Return To Me
by Ying-Fa-dono
Summary: Jareth and Sarah have started a blissful life together, but the peace will not last long. An evil being has come and is threatening their lives and the life of all they hold dear. Love, hate, and destiny become intertwined in the sequel to Please Come Hom
1. The Fairytale

**Ying-Fa: Hey there, peeps! I'm back again with the sequel to Please Come Home. This is mostly little something-something summing everything up. I've already prewritten a few chapters and I look forward to posting them in due course. I give you Return to Me!**

_Once upon a time, there was a handsome young prince. He lived in a marvelous world where everything seemed possible and nothing was what it seemed. But the prince was terribly lonely. All of his people were killed in a terrible war many years ago, and there were very few left. He was raised by a wicked witch who only pretended to care for the prince and really wished to turn him into a slave. _

_One day, the prince found his chance to escape from his wicked stepmother and ran away, never to return. He traveled all around his world, searching desperately for the one thing he always lacked. His own lost family. But as he traveled and met what remained of his people, they welcomed him and wished him to stay, but they would give him no knowledge of his family. He never stayed long with the people, determined to find his family, but his efforts proved in vain._

_Then, as he grew older, he came across a small civilization of creatures called goblins. The goblins were a smelly, ugly, dim-witted race, but the prince found them interesting rather than disturbing. He appeared before them and spoke to them._

_"Build me a castle and make me your king," he told them. "In exchange, I will build you an entire city around the castle."_

_The goblins feared and respected the prince and longed for a city of their own. And so, their leader, who had the power of seeing into the future, kindly gave the prince his place as leader of the goblins and offered his assistance as the prince's advisor. The goblins built the prince his castle and the prince built the goblins their city._

_And so the prince became a king. The Goblin King._

_When the wicked witch came and saw that her little prince had named himself a king, she was furious and threatened to destroy all he had created for the goblins. And so the Goblin King built a great and vast labyrinth around his castle so as to keep his dangerous stepmother away. The labyrinth had a soul of its own, a sweet and gentle one, and the Goblin King loved it._

_But the Goblin King was still very lonely. He never found his family and that saddened him. He had no queen to rule at his side and no company other than goblins. So, the Goblin King traveled to a different world in disguise to pass the time. Perhaps he would find a companion here, seeing as his own world was depraved of any who were worthy of his company._

_While he was in the other world, he came across a beautiful princess. The princess was very sad, for she was worked as a slave by her own wicked stepmother. The stepmother forced her to watch over her baby brother so that she could never leave the castle. So the little princess suffered in silence and lived a life of woe._

_Almost at once, the Goblin King fell in love with the beautiful princess and thus made a solemn oath. He swore that if the princess ever wished him to do something for her, no matter what it was, he would do it for her. But the princess, not knowing of the King's vow, wished for something dark. One night, when her baby brother refused to stop crying she seethed with resentment and said:_

_"I wish the goblins would come and take you away . . . right now."_

_The King, bound by his oath and his love for her, granted her request. He had his goblins snatch the child from his cradle and take him to the castle beyond the Goblin City. Too late, the princess realized that she loved her baby brother and begged the Gobin King to return him. But the Goblin King refused, for he took his promises very seriously._

_But upon seeing the woman he loved in distress, the Goblin King made a deal with the young princess._

_"You have thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us forever," he told her._

_The princess willingly accepted the King's challenge and hurried into the vast labyrinth. The King was certain that she wouldn't be able to best the labyrinth, but it turned out that she was just as clever as he was. She turned the hearts of some of his own minions against him. Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, she fought her way to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that he had stolen._

_The princess reached the castle. The King knew that, if she bested him and won her brother back, she would leave him forever. Desperate that she stay, he offered the princess her dreams if only she would bow to him. But her will was as strong as his and her kingdom was as great. He had no power over her._

_The Goblin King was thwarted and the princess took her brother back to their world. The princess thought that she would never see the Goblin King again, but little did she know that when she'd met the Goblin King, she'd met her destiny as well._

_After the princess bested the labyrinth, the Goblin King fell so deep into his sorrow that his heart started to fail. Before long, he became ill and knew that he was about to die. He left for the Shadow Temple, a sacred place of death, to await his demise. But the soul of the labyrinth was frightened, for it loved its creator and king very deeply and immediately started to plan a way to save him._

_The soul of the labyrinth went to the princess in a dream. It told her of the Goblin King's fate and begged her to return and save him. Upon hearing this, the princess felt a great sorrow for the King and desired that she would save him. When she learned that his illness was due to her triumph over him, the princess wished to make amends with him and, over time, realized her deep feelings for him._

_But the wicked witch was determined to stop the princess, for she wished to save the Goblin King herself so that she could turn him into her slave, and tried to stop the princess at all costs. But the princess was determined and would not fail. With the friends she'd made while running the labyrinth at her side, the princess made her way to the Shadow Temple to save the dying king._

_When the princess found the Goblin King, he was barely clinging to life. The princess longed to save him, begged him to stay, and confessed her love for him. Once he learned that his beloved did, indeed, love him in return, the Goblin King's heart healed over. The Goblin King's power returned and he and the princess together defeated the evil witch._

_Over time, the princess left her world forever and she and the Goblin King were married. And the princess became a Queen. The King and Queen spent many happy years together. The Goblin King was no longer lonely and the Queen no longer lived a life of woe. Then, their happiness became even greater when they were blessed with a child. A very special child that was unlike any other in this world or the other, for this child had a past existence. This child was the soul of the labyrinth born into coporeal form._

_They called her Labyrinth, but to those who loved and knew her well, she was called Rin, the Goblin Princess._

_But so great was the happiness of the King and Queen and all those that lived in the secluded walls of the labyrinth that they didn't hear the hush that fell over the Underground. For the Goblin Princess was the first of her kind to be born in almost two millennia. No other changeling child had been born since the terrible war that had destroyed the Goblin King's people. The news of her birth did not fail to reach the ears of an evil being that lived a hidden existence deep in the Underground. An evil that was even greater than that of the wicked witch._

_This evil hated the Queen's world and all that lived in it and considered the Princess's birth to be a matter of deepest shame. He traveled to the labyrinth to confront the Goblin King. In a friendly manner, he tried talking the King into sending the Queen back to her own world and disposing of the little princess. The King scorned him and turned him away. But this would not be enough._

_Now, the family is thrown into chaos once more. The three are separated from one another, the labyrinth attacked, and soon the Goblin King will discover the truth of who he is and come face-to-face with his destiny. The Queen and Princess must fight to stay alive as they flee for their lives, far from the King's loving gaze and the fate the two lovers and their changeling child rests on the shoulders of one person._

_The Goblin Queen's baby brother._

**Ying-Fa: How's that for a beginning? Okay, leave your reviews and I'll send you the next chapter soon, 'kay?**


	2. Enter Toby

**Ying-Fa: Yay! It's so nice to see so many familiar faces (or should I say names since I haven't actually seen your faces?) and some newcomers too! Thank you for all your support. **

Toby sighed and he slammed his locker shut. Friday had finally arrived and he was now free to enjoy his weekend. It'd been a long week. High school was so much harder than middle school had been and he hadn't made much of a first impression in his high school career.

After realizing at once just what it meant to be a freshman in high school, he'd tried everything he could to avoid being in the category of 'most likely to be bullied'. He'd tried out for the football team and had failed miserably and now his classes were demanding a lot from him and he wondered if he'd ever have time to finish it before it was due on Monday. Toby swung his backpack over his shoulders and headed out of the building.

He'd almost made it out when he heard somebody say his name. He turned around. A group of girls, some he knew and some he didn't, where talking together next to the door to the lunchroom. Interested, Toby leaned in but tried not to be noticed as the girls talked.

" . . . Toby, that's right," said Hannah Fielding. "Yeah, he's a friend of Brian's, isn't he?"

"Yeah," said Bethany Templeton. "Why don't you invite him to the party tomorrow? Brian told me he needs to live a little."

"I don't know if his folks will let him," said Madison Snow. "From what I hear, they're _really_ uptight. They don't let him do anything."

"Well, that's understandable," said Bethany. "I mean, you heard what happened to his sister, didn't you?"

"Isn't she the girl who went off to Europe and disappeared?" asked Hannah.

"Yeah," said Bethany, her voice lowering mysteriously. "Apparently, she was going to this really fancy art school in France. By the time they realized that she was gone, there was nothing the police could do, here or there. It's a complete mystery."

"Sheesh, some family," said Madison, shaking her head. "It took them, like, five years to figure out that she was missing, didn't it?"

"Well, she was in a foreign country," said Hannah, reasonably. "It's not really fair to judge them."

"Hey, ladies," said a new voice. It was Isaac Belem. "What're you talking about?"

"The mysterious disappearance of Toby Williams's sister," said Madison. "Don't you think it's weird, what happened to her? I mean, she was from this town too, that's why they made such a big deal out of it on the news."

"Oh, that girl," said Isaac, putting on a scary, horror-film voice. "I heard a rumor that she ran into Jack the Ripper and he hacked her up so bad all they ever found were pieces. It was so bad that they never announced it to the public."

"Yuck!" wailed Hannah. "Isaac, you're gross!"

"That's just losers like you making up scary stories to scare little kids," snapped Madison. "Jack the Ripper was way before our time. There's no way it could have been him. And he was in _London_ and she disappeared in _France_, you idiot."

Isaac frowned. "Okay then, what do _you _think happened to her? People don't just vanish into thin air, now do they?"

"My aunt went to school with her," said Bethany. "She told me what really happened."

"Really," said Hannah. "What did she say?"

"She said that she had this secret boyfriend that nobody knew about," said Bethany. "I think that she only _pretended _to go to France when, in reality, she went off with her boyfriend and eloped with him."

The girl's squealed. "Really?! Oh, that's _so_ romantic!" Isaac simply snorted, clearly thinking his version of the story was much cooler.

Toby sighed and walked away. How many times had that story been picked over and embroidered so that the truth of it was nearly forgotten? It had not taken Toby's parents five years to discover that his older sister, Sarah, had disappeared. As far as Toby was concerned, it was completely unfair that they be blamed for what happened to her. She had been very far away, across the ocean, and his father had been concerned when she hadn't answered any of his letters. Toby also didn't like the fact that people kept coming up with all these ridiculous stories about why she had vanished like that.

_Still,_ Toby thought. _Eloping with a secret boyfriend is a lot nicer to imagine than her lying dead in a ditch somewhere._

Toby got of the school and hopped on his bike, heading back to his house. As he peddled, he could smell the air becoming musky and damp. It was gonna rain tonight. Maybe they'd get thunder and lighting too. He liked storms. Toby had no idea why, but they reminded him of his missing sister.

He arrived home, chained his bike up in the garage and went inside just as he heard a slight rumble in the distance.

"Mom!" he called as he stepped in the door. "Mom, I'm home."

Toby's mother, Irene, came in through the kitchen door. "Oh, hello dear," she said, brightly. "How was school?"

"It was okay," said Toby. "Not great, not horrible, just, y'know, high school."

"I see," said Irene. "Well, Mrs. Coldwell called. Her sister is in town so she doesn't need you to take care of Davy and Jenny tonight."

"Oh, really?" said Toby. "Well, that's too bad."

Mrs. Coldwell was a woman who worked with Toby's father, Robert. Whenever there was an office party going on, she and Mr. Coldwell would hire Toby to watch their two young children. It wasn't a bad job. They were fairly nice kids and he was paid nicely for his work.

"Yeah," said Irene. "So, I was thinking of calling Mrs. Humphrey to . . ."

"Mrs. Humphrey?" said Toby, taken aback. "The old lady who smells like soup? What are you calling her for?"

"To stay with you tonight, of course," said Irene, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What!?" cried Toby. "_Mom!_ How many times do I have to tell you? I don't _need_ a babysitter anymore."

"Now Toby," said Irene, sternly. "You know your father and I would feel much better if someone was with you when we went out. That's why we set up this whole routine with the Coldwells."

"Mom, I'm telling you, _I'll be fine_," Toby insisted. "I'm in high school now, Mom, I can take care of myself."

Irene sighed. "How about we talk it over with your father and see what he thinks when he gets back."

"Fine," Toby sighed, heading up to his room. At least she'd agreed to talk it over with his dad and that was something.

Toby's room was covered in all sorts of things that related to fantasy and adventure. There was a small television in the corner of his room that didn't have any channels, but there was a Nintendo 64 hooked up to it where he played his _Legend of Zelda_ games. There was also some books and videos on the shelves, an old Escher painting on the wall, and other various belongings. He was _never_ permitted to leave his clothing on the floor (Irene saw to that) so the room was relatively clean for one that housed a thirteen year old boy.

Toby looked over at his shelf that was covered in old movies he liked, wondering which one he'd watch if he really managed to get his parents to let him stay home alone tonight. He'd get to watch them downstairs on the big TV for a change, which he wasn't able to do because his mother was too busy watching her soap operas and talk shows.

_Let's see,_ he thought, critically. _I watched "Willow" last night. Oh, I haven't watched "Legend" in a while. Or maybe I could watch "The Never-Ending Story" or "Ladyhawke". Man, so many choices. What else? Hm, there's "Dark Crystal" and "Mirrormask". Or, better yet, a whole marathon. Or maybe I could see if I can beat one whole game before Mom and Dad get back. They usually stay out pretty late._

There was a knock on Toby's door. "Toby? Can I talk to you?"

"Sure, come on in," Toby called. The door opened and both of Toby's parents came in.

"Your mother tells me you want to stay home by yourself tonight," said Robert, giving Toby a very serious look.

"Why can't I?" Toby insisted. "I can take care of myself."

"Toby," said Irene, exasperated. "You know how we feel about things like this. I'd just feel better if someone was here with you, that's all."

"Mom, I'm going to be fourteen in two months," Toby said, irritated. "In four more years, I'll legally be an adult. Please, _stop babying me!_ I'll be _fine!_"

"But . . ." Irene began, but Toby kept going.

"This is because of Sarah, isn't it?" Toby dared to mention. Toby saw both of his parents stiffen, but he went on. If there was any way he'd get through to them, it would be like this. "You're worried that you're gonna take your eyes off me for two seconds and that I'm just gonna disappear from under your noses. Mom, Dad, I _swear_ to you! I_ swear_ I won't vanish. I'm not gonna go anywhere. _I won't disappear!_"

"Toby Robert Williams," gasped Irene. "You go too far! That's . . ."

"Let him stay, Irene."

"Robert?"

Irene and Toby both looked over at Robert Williams. He looked much older all of a sudden and he looked thoroughly miserable. Toby felt his insides pang with guilt, but he couldn't help but feel hopeful at the same time.

"Toby's not a child anymore," said Robert, rubbing his eyes warily. "If he thinks he can handle it then he can stay home alone tonight."

"Really?" said Toby, hardly daring to believe his luck.

"Well," said Irene, slowly. "Alright, he can stay home by himself."

"Yes!" Toby cried, jumping up and down.

"But," said Irene, staring Toby in the eye. "We're gonna have to set some rules for you to follow."

"Okay," said Toby, happily. "I'm all ears."

"Firstly," said Irene, holding up one finger. "You are not allowed to leave the house at any time while we are gone. You stay here, you understand?"

"Sure," said Toby.

"Secondly," said Irene, raising another finger. "You are not allowed to have any friends over. You want to stay by yourself, then that's the way it's gonna be. I don't want you throwing any parties or anything remotely like that in this house."

"Understood," said Toby. He didn't mind that rule. Friends would only ruin the wonderful sanctity of having the house to himself.

"Thirdly," Irene went on. "I want this house to be spick and span when we come home around midnight. No messes and none of those pillow forts either."

"I haven't built one of those in years," protested Toby.

"And finally," said Irene. "Don't go pigging out on whatever you can find in the refrigerator. I'll make you some dinner before we go. But if you do get hungry later tonight, you can have some microwave popcorn but, again, no messes."

"Sure," said Toby. "No problem, Mom."

"Okay then," said Robert, clapping his hands together. "Your mother and I need to start getting ready soon. Let's get you some dinner and we'll be heading out."

"'Kay," said Toby, thinking that this evening was going to be the beginning of many great evenings-alone to come.

**Ying-Fa: There you go! Okay, I did the math and if Sarah went to the labyrinth for the first time in 1986 (the year the movie came out), then this takes place in 1999. That's why he has an N 64 and not and Xbox. 'Kay, tell me what you think.**


	3. Memories and Choices

**Ying-Fa: I love reviews so much. They're like Gateraide. The keep you GOING! (although the last time I drank Gateraide, it made me sick) Warning, I got a little misty while writing this. That is no lie. Maybe I'm just a pathetic little girl . . .**

**Nagini-chan: Wouldn't put it past you.**

**Ying-Fa: Shut up! Okay, read and enjoy.**

Toby sat in the dining room, eating the macaroni that his mother had whipped up for him and watched as his parent's changed into their evening wear. His mother wore her favorite salmon-pink party dress and his father put on his best brown suit. Toby couldn't help but notice that Robert looked rather miserable, his eyes downcast.

Toby felt his insides writhe with guilt again. He shouldn't have brought up Sarah, but he was so desperate to show his parents the error of their ways, it had just kind of popped out. Toby remembered what it had been like on that day, seven years ago. They'd gone for a few months without hearing from Sarah since she left for France. His parents simply thought that she must have been having such a wonderful time that she was too busy to write back. But then, the phone call came.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It was during dinner. Irene had answered.

"Hello? William's residence."

There was a pause.

"Yes, may I please ask who is speaking?"

Toby had been watching his mother as she talked with whoever was on the other line. He saw his mother's eyes grow suddenly dark and very cold. When she spoke again, her voice was icy and cruel.

"What are you doing? Calling this number?" she barked. "What business do you have with my husband?"

Whatever had been said on the other line, it must have worked because Irene rolled her eyes and turned to her husband.

"Robert, your _ex-wife_ is on the phone!"

Robert looked so surprise he seemed almost startled. "Linda? Why would she be calling here?"

"She says it has to do with Sarah," said Irene, crossly.

Robert got up and took the phone from his wife. "Hello? Oh, Linda, how are you? What? You're where?! Well . . . um . . . yes. Yes, that's right. No, I assure you, you're in the right place. What? Wha-what do you mean? No. No, that can't be. No, I enrolled her myself. I wrote to her just last week. She _has_ to be there!"

At that point, Robert had taken the phone into the other room and to talk to his ex-wife in privacy. Toby, though only six years old at the time, could already tell that something was very, very wrong.

Later that night, Toby had been sent to bed early so that his parents could talk in private. Angered that he wasn't allowed in on the conversation, he'd sneaked downstairs to eavesdrop. Robert was sitting in an armchair, looking as if he was going to be sick. Irene was pacing all around the room, speaking in an almost hysterical voice.

". . . this is insane!" said Irene, throwing her hands in the air. "If Sarah's not in school, where could she be!?"

"I . . . I don't know," said Robert in a hollow, dead sort of voice. "Linda was in France for some kind of production and she thought she'd drop in on Sarah and surprise her. But she went to the school and they say . . . they said . . . she . . . wasn't there. She . . . she never showed up . . . in the school."

"This . . . this can't be happening," said Irene, sounding frantic. "Do you have any idea what this means!?"

"L-Linda's checking with all her connections in France," said Robert. "I'm sure somebody must know where she is."

"But what if they don't," said Irene. "Do you realize what that'll mean? She's missing! Somebody in our family is _missing!_"

"No," said Robert, shaking his head furiously. "No, don't say that! Please don't say that, Irene. I . . . I can't . . . not my . . . it's just . . . Sarah . . . m-my daughter . . . she . . ."

Robert couldn't say anymore. He just buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Irene went over to him and knelt down beside him, trying to comfort her husband. They were so busy trying to comfort each other, there was nobody left to comfort the little boy, crying in the shadows.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

They'd checked everywhere. Sarah's mother had a lot of friends in France and those friends had other friends, but nobody had seen or heard anything about Sarah until they finally had no choice but to make the frightening conclusion. Sarah had never set foot on French soil. They checked with the airlines that were supposed to transport her to Europe, but according to their records, she never even got on the plane. Apparently, the last person to see her alive was the taxi driver who had taken her to the airport. The driver swore under oath that he'd simply dropped her off and left. That's she'd seemed happy enough when he'd dropped her off and the instant he got back into his taxi to drive away, he didn't see anything suspicious.

Sarah's disappearance was quickly noticed by the press. Reporters and all other types of people came and asked them endless questions. Linda was questioned as well. Toby remembered the first time he had ever come face-to-face with Linda. It was while she was being interviewed about Sarah. She'd cried through a lot of the questions, whipping her eyes and sobbing while a blonde-haired man with her put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Irene hadn't approved of Linda being interviewed and seemed to think everything Linda did was a joke.

"Oh, look at that shameless hussy," she'd snarled, more to herself than to anyone else. "I can't believe she'd do this to our family. Her flesh-and-blood daughter is missing and here she is, shedding crocodile tears, hoping to gain some fame. What a beastly woman!"

But Toby couldn't bring himself to believe his mother. Either Linda was the best actress in the entire world, or those tears were completely legit. When she'd cried over Sarah, Toby could almost feel that they were real. True, the fact that she was on the news a lot more often then before hadn't crossed her mind, but when she pleaded for anyone with news of Sarah's whereabouts to please come forward, it was the truth and Toby knew it.

Toby had done his fare share of crying too. One day, after that attack by the press, Toby went into Sarah's old room with his old teddy bear that Sarah herself had given him. He'd curled up on the floor, hugging Lancelot, and cried at the top of his voice.

"Sarah!" he'd sobbed. "Come back! Please, come back! Sarah! I miss you! Sarah! Please! Sarah!"

The sadness never completely went away. Time went on. The day still came, the night followed, and the seasons passed. Just like normal. Just like it would if a young woman hadn't simply vanished into thin air. The world carried on. Callously and cruelly, it carried on.

And Sarah Williams was all but forgotten.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Toby put down his fork and pushed his food away from him, his appetite gone. He sighed and reached into the collar of his shirt. From beneath it, he took out a long, gold chain and, dangling from it, was a ring. This ring was very old. The false gold had all but peeled away and the brass underneath was rusting. The black stone that was set in the middle of it was very loose in its setting. Toby glared at the old ring, remembering the day it had been given to him.

_"This is a special ring, Toby. As long as you keep it with you, we'll be closer together than you think. If you hold on to it, we will see each other again. I promise."_

Toby sighed. "You liar," he mumbled, tucking the ring back into his shirt.

"Toby," his father called, from the hall. "We're leaving."

"Okay," Toby shouted back. "Have a good time. Bye!"

"Bye Toby," his parents said and they stepped out of the house just as the first rumble of thunder was heard from outside.

Toby leaned back in his chair and raised his hands in the air. "Yes!" he cried. "I'm free! Home alone at last, this is gonna be great! Now, what should I do first?"

He got up from his chair and dumped his dishes into the sink. He ran back up the stairs to his room and burst inside. Almost at once, he noticed that something wasn't there that should have been.

"Hey," he said, looking over at his shelves. "Where's my lucky softball?"

One of the only things his parents would ever let him do without them tagging along and breathing down his neck was allowing him to go to the park and play softball with his friends. He, Brian, Anthony, Ron, and Frank would play for hours in the park and Toby's team always won when they played with his lucky softball. But, right now, it was not sitting in its designated place on his shelf next to his CD collection.

After a quick yet thorough search of his bedroom, Toby tried to remember when he had it last. "Let's think," he said to himself. "I was playing with the guy's yesterday . . . aw, crap! I must have left it at the park."

Toby thought for a moment. His parents hadn't asked for much when they allowed him to stay home by himself but, if he didn't go now, he may never see his ball again.

There was a pause, and then . . .

_I'm sorry, Mom!_ Toby thought as he rushed down the stairs. _I'm sorry, Dad!_ He thought as he swung his leather jacket over his shoulders. _I'll only be out for five minutes, and then I'm coming straight home, I promise!_

Toby opened the front door, saw that his parents were no longer in sight, and then sprinted outside, heading toward the park. He ran as fast as he could. The air was heavy with the smell of rain and he knew he couldn't stay out for long, lest he be caught in the storm. After running down three streets, thunder rumbling over his head, he arrived at the park.

This park was a really nice place. The green grass stretched on and was covered in flowers. A large, sparkling spring ran through it with stone bridges for people to cross and swans swimming gracefully in it. Stone benches and obelisks where littered about for relaxation and decoration. Toby quickly found the obelisk that he and his friends used as home base and started looking around for his ball. He searched the grass, under benches, but didn't find it. There was a wooded area full of trees and bushes. Maybe it had fallen in there when he'd hit a home run? Toby marched through the overgrowth, pushing aside bushes. Finally, just as the first drop of rain had landed on his head, he found his ball.

There was only one problem.

A little girl, no older than two, was holding on to his lucky softball. She raised her head and looked up at him, her mismatched eyes full to bursting with tears.

**Ying-Fa: Oh, suspense! Alrighty, leave me those reviews.**


	4. Stay Home With The Baby

**Ying-Fa: Aw, only four reviews? I'll cry. Okay, no I won't. Well, enjoy this next chapter anyway. . . I hope.**

Toby stared at the girl. She was kneeling on the ground, her little violet dress looked torn and dirty, his ball was held in her small hands. The girl was undeniably, indisputably, unbelievably cute. Her face was small and round with youth with a little nose set in the center. Her teary eyes were strangely mismatched, one pupil was more dilated than the other, yet they were still both blue. Her light brown hair was very long and nearly touched the ground as she knelt there.

Toby had no idea what to do. Finally, he reached out to her. "Hey there," he said in a kind voice. "Are you okay?"

The girl pouted and recoiled, obviously scared of him.

"No, it's okay," said Toby. "I'm not gonna hurt you. It's okay."

The girl blinked her eyes and sniffed.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Where's your mom? Are you lost?"

Tears fell from the little girl's eyes yet again and she sobbed quietly. "Mama," she whimpered.

"Hey, hey now," said Toby, kneeling to her level. "What's happened? Did you lose your mommy? It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you." He reached out to her again, hoping she'd trust him.

She looked over at his hand carefully. The girl rubbed her eyes with one tiny fist then looked back up at him. She seemed less afraid now. "Mama?" she said again, but this time it was a question.

"Yeah," said Toby, nodding to her. "Come on, it's okay. Let's go find your mom, okay?"

Thunder rumbled threateningly over their heads. Toby scowled up at the sky. He didn't have a clue as to what he should do. He couldn't just leave the little girl here, not right before a storm, but what if he got so caught up in helping the girl find her mother that he lost track of time. His parent's would never forgive him if he wasn't there when they got home.

As a streak of lightning flashed through the air and the little girl gasped in fright did Toby finally make up his mind. He picked up the little girl and started to run for his house. He didn't get far before the rain started to fall in heavy floods from the iron gray clouds up above. He sprinted, holding the girl carefully to his chest. She was surprisingly light and did not squirm or struggle against him at all.

By the time they got back to Toby's house, they were both soaking wet. He unlocked the door and swept inside, gasping for air. The girl was resting her head trustingly on his chest, looking up at him with a politely puzzled expression.

"Are-are you okay?" he asked her.

She dropped the softball and took the skirt of her dress and a strand of her long hair in her hands. "Wet," she said as water dripped from them.

Toby laughed. "Yeah, me too," he said, grinning. He set the girl down and she immediately began to take in her surroundings. It was probably then that Toby realized just what he'd done. He'd taken an infant girl, a complete stranger, into his house. But there had been no sign of anybody in the park, a storm had struck, and she was a helpless girl. What else could he have done?

_Okay, now what?_ Toby thought as the girl, stared around the hall with interest. _Alright we should probably get dry first. If she hangs around in those wet clothes, she'll catch a cold. Then, I'll call the police and tell them what happened and they can take it from there. Oh, please just let them come and go before Mom and Dad get back!_

"Wet, wet, wet," said the girl, wringing out her hair onto the carpet.

"No!" said Toby. "No, no, no! Not on the carpet! Mom'll kill me."

"Mama?" said the girl, looking up at him curiously.

"Yeah, my mom," said Toby.

"My mom," the girl repeated. "My mom, my mom, my mom."

Toby then noticed that she was shivering slightly. "Okay, come on," he said, picking her up again. "Let's get you dry, okay?"

The girl didn't seem to understand, but she let him pick her up again, nevertheless. He carried her to the upstairs bathroom and took out a fresh towel and started to dry her off with it. It didn't seem to be working much. After a few minutes of whipping her off, she was still shivering and she was still a bit dirty.

"Hm," said Toby. "You probably need a bath, don't you?"

The girl simply looked up at him and shivered.

Toby sighed. It wasn't like he hadn't done this before. The Coldwell's little girl was roughly the same age as this one and he'd given her bathes loads of times. The only problem was, this was the daughter of a complete stranger and he didn't know if he should be doing this at all. But still, her shivering only seemed to get worse and he decided that it was for the greater good.

Toby turned over to the bathtub and turned on the water. Making sure it was not too hot, but just warm enough. As the tub filled up, he went downstairs and grabbed some dish soap from the kitchen. He ran back up to find the girl watching the bath fill up, looking very interested. He poured the dish soap into the tub and bubbles immediately began to form over the surface of the water.

He then turned to the girl and, averting his eyes as best he could, helped her slip out of her wet dress. Toby was surprised to find that she wasn't wearing a paper diaper, but a cloth one. He helped her out of that too, was extremely relieved to find it clean, picked her up and set her into the water.

Toby threw the dress into a corner of the bathroom and turned his attention to the girl. She seemed to like her bath very much. She giggled and splashed playfully, roaming cheerfully through the sea of bubbles. A particularly large bubble had escaped the others and was floating dreamily near the girl's head. She looked up at it and her eyes widened.

"Daddy?" she said, reaching for the bubble, but it popped on contact with her hand. She seemed taken aback, the lowered her head sadly.

"Hey, it's okay," said Toby, taking a cup from the cupboard, filling it with the bath water and pouring it down her long hair. "We'll find your mom and dad, I promise. We just have to call the police and then . . . they'll take it from there."

The girl looked up at Toby and pointed to him. "You," she said.

"Oh, right," said Toby, feeling sheepish. "My name is Toby."

She looked confused.

"Toby," he repeated. "_Toby_."

"Toe . . . Bee," said the girl.

"That's right . . .-ish," said Toby. "My name's Toby."

"Toe . . . Bee," she said again. The she smiled. "Toby. Toby, Toby, Toby!"

"Much better," said Toby, brightly. "Now you've got it! Okay, so, what's your name?"

The girl froze for a second then smiled. She had to be a thousand times even cuter when she smiled. She raised a small hand out of the bubbles and pointed to her chest. "Rin," she said.

"Rin?"

"Rin," the girl repeated, smiling brightly.

"Your name is Rin?"

"Yea," she replied.

"Hm," said Toby as he resumed washing her long hair. "That's an odd name. But I guess it's a pretty one too."

Rin grinned happily and sank deeper into her bubbles and let Toby finish washing her hair. Once she was done with her bath, Toby lifted her out and wrapped her up in towel. He went to his room, pulled out one of his longer T-shirts and slipped it over Rin's head before taking the clothes he'd found her in and throwing them in the dryer.

"Alright," said Toby. "Now, I'd better call the police."

But just when he reached the phone, lightning flashed through the air and thunder rumbled dangerously close outside. Toby jumped at the sudden noise but reached for the phone nonetheless.

There was no dial tone.

"Oh no," moaned Toby, hanging up and trying again. "Oh no! Aw, man! Now what am I gonna do?!"

Toby tried to think of his options. He couldn't keep Rin here any longer than it took to make sure she was in good hands and would find her family. But she couldn't be here when his parents got back. They'd ground him for life and would never allow him to stay home by himself ever again.

"Toby?"

Rin was looking down at him from the top of the stairs. His shirt was so big on her that she looked in danger of being swallowed by it.

"The phone is out, Rin," said Toby, sadly. "Man, I didn't want this. Okay, just hold tight. I'm gonna see if . . ."

Almost at that precise minute, there was a knock on the door.

**Ying-Fa: That's it for now. Free cookies go to whoever can guess who's at the door! (hint: NOT who you might think!) Leave me reviews!**


	5. Coming and Going

**Ying-Fa: We're getting almost caught up, so updates will be a little more drawn out. Thank you everyone who has stuck with me. I really do appreciate your reviews and it makes me want to write more. It's the gasoline for my car (and a heck of a lot cheaper!)**

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Who could that be?" said Toby, lifting his eyes to look fearfully at Rin, who was still staring curiously down at him from between the rungs of the banister. "Mom and Dad can't be back yet. Oh, but if it is them, Mom's probably gonna ground me for life for bringing Rin in here."

"Mama?" said Rin, questioningly.

_Knock, knock, knock._

"Okay, I'm coming," said Toby, walking over to the door. _Let it be the police or something so I can help Rin out before Mom and Dad get here._

Toby opened the door. Before him stood the strangest person he'd ever seen. He was a portly fellow with long, stringy black hair that fell past his shoulders, a reedy mustache on his upper lip and a tiny, devil beard pointing from his chin. He was wearing the strangest clothes. He wore a suit that was a violent shade of orange that sparkled with sequins, a ruffled shirt, sharp-looking, pointed boots and a large black top hat. But the suit, the hat, and the devil beard notwithstanding, the strangest thing about this man was his eyes. They were black, but not regular black, they were _all_ black. It was as if his pupils filled up his entire eye, leaving no white within them.

"Good evening, little youngen'," he said, in a surprisingly jovial voice. "Nasty weather we're having, isn't it?"

"Er, um," said Toby, too startled by the strangeness of this man to say anything. "H-hello."

"Hello, hello, hello," said the man. "I'm on something of an unpleasant quest, buddy boy, and I need assistance."

"Um . . . okay," said Toby, still very confused.

"I come to you in very low spirits," said the man. Suddenly, he buried his face in the crook of his arm and made loud, sobbing noises into it. "I . . . I . . . I've lost my child!"

"You've what?"

"I've lost my child!" repeated the man. "My itty, bitty bopkin has escaped from her precious daddy and now my soul is stricken with grief and worry!"

Through his shock at first meeting this strange man, Toby felt the first pang of unease. There was something very, very not right about this man. For someone who was worried about their missing child, he certainly didn't act like it. Everything was way too exaggerated for Toby to take seriously. It was like watching a play that was both poorly written and performed.

"My little sweetums," said the man, still burying half his face in his arm. "We were taking a playful little stroll together and I turned my eyes for a mere half-glance in the opposite direction and my little dumpling vanished from my view!"

It was then that Toby noticed something else. It was pouring rain outside, yet this man's wacky clothes were bone dry.

"Tell me, my fine little peasant," said the man, taking his face out of his arm at last. "Have you seen my bouncing bundle of sweetness and love?"

"Who are you calling 'peasant'?" said Toby, also noticing that this man's eyes were as dry as his clothes. "We're middle class!"

The man's black eyes seemed to grow even darker for a moment, but it cleared up almost at once. "Of course, good young sir, of course. There was no offense meant. I am simply forgetting my manners from my deep sorrow and longing for the return of my darling little popinjay."

Toby hesitated. "What does she look like?"

The man grinned, revealing oddly sharp-looking teeth, three of which were gold, and held his hands apart to about the size of a child's car seat.

"She's about yay big," he said. "With long brown hair, purple dress," the man leaned closer, looking Toby square in the eye. "Mismatched eyes."

Toby's insides squirmed. He was looking for Rin. If he gave her to this man, then his troubles would all be over. He could go back to enjoying his evening by himself and his parents need never know that Rin had ever set foot in this house. But . . . this man . . .

"Um, look," said Toby. "I'm sorry. I haven't seen your daughter. I'm sorry that I can't be of more help but I'm home alone right now and . . ."

"Toby?"

Toby jumped and spun around. Rin had come down the stairs and was waddling over to him. Her mismatched eyes fell onto the man in the doorway.

"My darling little lamb!" cried the man, throwing his arms open at the sight of Rin, as if expecting her to run over and hug him. "My precious, wonderful, adorable, cute, cuddly, little mincemeat pie! Daddy is home, my pet! Come to daddy, little darling!"

But Rin didn't look at all happy to see this man. She raised her arms protectively in front of her chest, her eyes widened with fear and tears began to leak from them. She looked terrified out of her mind.

"Come, my sweet little pet!" said the man, still holding out his arms, expecting a hug. "Fly into papa's bosom now!"

"Daddy?" said Rin, looking horrified. "No."

"What's wrong, Rin?" asked Toby.

"Oh, she's just a little surprised," said the man. "Come give Papa a nice big hug and so he can take you away from this awful place."

"Not Daddy," said Rin, pointing fearfully at the man. "Not Daddy! Not Daddy! Toby!" She ran over to Toby and hugged his leg, still staring at the man with nothing but fear in her gaze. Toby picked her up and she buried her face into his shirt, cuddling close.

"Aw, she likes you," said the man. It was clear that he'd tried to sound pleased, but there was only anger in those strange, black eyes. "She must be drained with exhaustion. Come now, laddie. Give her here so I can put her down for a nice, long nap."

Rin lifted her face out of Toby's shirt and shook her head furiously at him, begging him not to hand her over. Toby tore his gaze from Rin's desperate eyes to the man's cold, black ones.

"Why doesn't she want to go to you?" he asked the man, harshly.

The man's mouth was all that was smiling now. "Like I said, she's _exhausted._ If you give her back here, then I can see that she is tended to."

"Why is she saying that you're not her dad?" Toby asked, holding Rin tighter in his arms.

The man dropped all pretense now. "Come on now, buddy boy, I haven't got all day. Give the girl to me."

"No," snapped Toby. "I'm sorry, but no. You want her then you'd better come back with proof. And the police."

The man scowled and reached into his pocket. For one horrifying moment, Toby was sure he was about to pull out a gun. Instead, he pulled out a small deck of cards. Not taking his haunting eyes off Rin in Toby's arms, he shuffled the cards and drew one from the very top of the deck.

"Humph," he said. "Take a look at this, buddy boy." He showed Toby the card. On it was a picture of a man riding a donkey backwards with patched clothes and underneath the picture were the words "The Fool."

"And a fool you are," he said, slipping the card into the deck and shuffling it again. "Nobody goes against Reinhardt and lives, dear fool. I will ask you _one last time._ Give . . . me . . . that . . . changeling . . . brat!"

"No!" said Toby, grabbing the door and slammed it shut and locked it.

"Toby," cried Rin.

"Shh, it's okay, Rin," said Toby, soothingly. "That guy's not gonna . . ."

BOOM!

Rin screamed. Toby spun around. The door lurched forward, crunching loudly, as if a battering ram was smashing into it. Freaking out, Toby held Rin close to him and ran upstairs. Just as he reached the upstairs hallway did he hear the front door smash clean off its hinges. Terrified, Toby had no idea what to do. His room didn't have a lock on the door . . . but his parent's room did. He ran in there, slammed the door shut, and locked it just as he heard the man's voice echo through the house.

"Yoo-hoo! Buddy boy? This doesn't need to happen, y'know. Just give the changeling to me and you'll get to go on your merry little way. Give the brat to Reinhardt and I'll reward you for giving her to me."

"This guy's a freak!" Toby thought desperately, looking around the room for something to use as a barricade. He was so busy that he didn't notice that Rin was looking very intently out the window.

"It's gonna be okay, Rin," said Toby, pulling the bedside table in front of the door. "I'm not gonna let that guy take you. Oh man, what will mom and dad say? What if they come home and that loony is here?"

Toby could hear Reinhardt opening doors and searching inside each room. It wouldn't be long before he reached Robert and Irene's bedroom. Toby was starting to really panic now. What was he going to do?

He turned around and pressed his back to the door to keep it closed but . . .

"Rin? Rin, what are you doing?"

Rin had climbed up onto the chest by the window and had just unlatched the lock, pushing it open. Rain came blowing furiously into the room, spilling inside all over from the fury of the wind.

"Rin! Rin, no! Get away from there!"

Rin didn't seem to hear him. She was too intent on staring out into the storm. "Home," she said.

"Rin! No, Rin! This is the second floor!"

BOOM!

The bedroom door lurched furiously, but held firm, cracking and groaning in protest. Toby was thrown away onto the floor and looked up just in time to see it happen.

"Rin! RIN, NO!"

The little girl stepped onto the windowsill, put out her small foot, and fell out of the window.

"RIIIIIIIIN!"

Toby was up like a shot. He dived for the window, grabbing for the little girl, but lost his balance. Toby had just enough time to hear the door burst open and hear someone scream in fury before he slipped out of the window and began to fall.

He couldn't even scream. He couldn't believe what was happening to him. There was no way, no possible way that this could happen. All he saw was the very solid ground that was coming closer and closer. Toby scrunched his eyes together as he thought desperately,

_I wish . . . I could have just . . . found out . . . where my sister was . . . and what happened to her._

At that very instant, the ring dangling from a chain around Toby's neck sparkled with a mysterious light.

**No one can blame you**

**For walking away**

**For too much rejection**

**No love injection**

Toby had no idea what was happening. He was still falling and falling, but the ground never came. Was it his brain trying to keep him alive longer, or was he falling . . . slower than before? What was happening? Where was he going?

**Life can be easy**

**It's not always swell**

**Don't tell me truth hurts**

**Little girl**

**'Cause it hurts like hell**

Toby finally managed to open his eyes. His back yard was gone. The window he'd fallen from was gone. His house was gone. Everything was gone. There was only darkness, shadows, and color. He definitely knew he was falling slower now. It was like everything was going in slow motion. A gentle breeze blowing upward, making his hair ruffle and his shirt slid up as he continued to drop.

**But down in the Underground**

**You'll find someone true**

**Down in the Underground**

**A land serene**

**A crystal moon**

Things started to come into clearer focus. He could see something below him. The tops of trees were just beneath his feet. Hills and valleys stretched out in the distance and a bright, clear sky appeared above him. He was scared out of his mind, but he still continued to fall, watching the ground get nearer and nearer. As he entered the trees, he expected to hit branches and twigs, but he miraculously seemed to miss everything as he soared softly down to earth.

**It's only forever**

**It's not long at all**

**The lost and the lonely**

Toby landed suddenly, but softly on his feet. He looked around and found himself surrounded by giant white trees with thick, emerald leaves. Where on earth was he?

**That's Underground**

**Underground**

**Lyrics from "Underground" by David Bowie.**

**Ying-Fa: Tee hee, here we go again! Special chapter coming up soon. Please review and tell me what you think. **


	6. Meanwhile

**Ying-Fa: You wanted 'em, you asked for 'em, so here they are! Please enjoy my latest chapter . . . and review, dagummit!**

Several miles away from the William's household was St. Rosemary's hospital. This was a busy place, full of doctors and patients and nurses and various others. It was the hospital where both Toby and his older sister were born and where they went when they had various aliments that needed medical attention. It was where Toby went when he'd broken his wrist and where Sarah had had her tonsils taken out. Tonight, it was as busy as it always was. The storm had resulted in a number of accidents that were keeping to doctors hands full.

One of the most significant accidents had resulted when a woman had run out into the street just as passing car was coming around the corner. The driver of the car had seen the woman and had slammed on his brakes in alarm, but hadn't been able to avoid slamming into her. By a happy coincidence, the man owned a cellular phone and called for an ambulance at once while this passenger, a nurse, had tended to the woman until the ambulance arrived ten minutes later.

Dr. Kevin Forbes was now watching over this particular woman. He read over the report that his nurse had left him. Apparently, she had a broken arm, a minor head injury and the side of her body that hit the car was pretty banged up. Other than that, however, she was remarkably well for someone who had had such an accident. She was very, very lucky. She must've had some kind of angel looking out for her.

The woman groaned in her hospital bed. She was about to wake up. Good thing too, the doctor thought. She'd been out for nearly six hours. He watched with a ready smile on his face for when she opened her eyes. Now, Dr. Forbes was an honest man who simply did his work and that was that, but even a man as honest as he couldn't help but admire the beauty that this woman was. Her long, raven hair fell easily onto her shoulders, framing her creamy face and pink lips. Her skin had an almost otherworldly glow to it, as if the angel that protected her today had blessed her in more ways than one.

Very slowly, she opened her eyes. They were a sparkling shade of green and they suited the rest of her features perfectly. Right now, she was staring around curiously at the hospital room, no doubt wondering how she'd gotten there.

"Good evening," said Dr. Forbes. "How are you feeling?"

She didn't answer. She still stared at him and around the room, completely at a loss. Dr. Forbes smiled kindly down at her.

"You gave us all a bit of a scare," he said, gently.

"W-where am I?" she asked.

"St. Rosemary's hospital," he answered gently.

"S-St. Rosemary's?" she said. "I'm . . . at St. Rosemary's? Geez . . . I haven't been there in ages."

"Well, you're here today," he said, with a little laugh.

"W-what happened?" the woman asked.

"You've been in an accident," said Dr. Forbes, carefully. "A car ran into you, but you seem to be pretty okay. Your left arm is broken and that whole side of you is a bit battered, but there's nothing serious."

"My head . . . is kinda fuzzy," the woman remarked.

"Yeah, that's common," said Dr. Forbes. "It's just your mind working to protect you from what's happened. Bit by bit, things will start coming back to you. Now, what's your name?"

"My name?"

"So that we can alert your family," said Dr. Forbes.

"My family?" said the woman, raising her uninjured hand to her forehead as she tried to remember. "Y-Yes. I was going to . . . my old house . . . to see my family. I was going to . . . to . . . oh!"

"It's alright," said Dr. Forbes, kindly. "Take your time. Nobody's making you . . ."

"Rin."

"Excuse me?"

"Rin," said the woman, now looking positively frantic. "Rin. Oh no. RIN!"

She tried to sit up, but Dr. Forbes stopped her. "Please," he said. "You must lie still. You're going to . . ."

"My daughter!" she cried. "My daughter! Where is she?!"

"I . . . I don't think there was anyone else with you," said Dr. Forbes, now quite startled. "The driver and his wife called us and we took you here. There wasn't a child anywhere near . . ."

"I . . . I told her to hide," said the woman, now looking absolutely terrified. "I thought . . . that _thing_ . . . was after her. I told her to hide. I tried to . . . distract it . . . but then . . . OH!" She buried her face in her right hand and trembled in fear and worry.

"Okay, calm down," said Dr. Forbes. "It's alright. We'll find your daughter, ma'am. Everything's gonna be alright. For now, you have to calm . . ."

". . . down?!" snapped the woman. "Calm down?! You expect me to calm down when my child is gone!"

"But you, yourself, are injured . . ."

"Like I care about my stupid arm!" the woman screamed in fury. "My only, baby girl is MISSING! She's out there with that THING! Forget about me and go find my daughter!"

"Yes ma'am," said the poor, clueless doctor. "I'll just . . . I'll tell the authorities what happened and . . ."

"Rin," sobbed the woman. "My poor baby! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to leave you. Oh, what if something happened to her? What if that thing gets her? What's worse is her father doesn't even know . . ." she gasped suddenly. "HER FATHER! Oh no! What am I gonna do? If he finds out she's gone, HE'LL FLIP!"

"Please, you must calm down," said Dr. Forbes. "I swear that I'll do as much as I can for your daughter and I'll make sure her father is notified about what happened."

The woman snorted and rolled her eyes.

"But since you're my patient, I need to take care of you," said Dr. Forbes. "Now, if you could tell me your name and . . ."

"My name is . . ." the woman started, but she hesitated. Finally, she said. "It's Linda Green, okay?"

"Everything will be alright, Mrs. Green," said Dr. Forbes. "I promise. I've got to check on another patient. I'll send the nurse in. You really don't know just how lucky you are Mrs. Green."

But as he turned and left the room, Sarah lay back down on her pillows and sobbed franticly. Her daughter was gone. That monster was after her. She, Sarah, the worst mother in the world, and left her alone and unprotected.

"Jareth," she sobbed. "Our daughter needs you. I'm hurt. I can't get out of here. Please. Jareth. Where are you?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Jareth's eyes opened and sat up quickly. His immediate thought was where the hell was he? He appeared to be in a bedroom, but it was the most unwelcoming room he'd ever set foot in. Everything was painted either red or black, giving the room a dark, satanic look. The bed he was lying on had black velvet covers and crimson, silk sheets. There were no windows, but there was a hearth with a roaring fire in the other end of the room.

Jareth moved to get out of the bed, but quickly stopped himself, clutching his left arm. It hurt terribly. He tried to remember what he might have done to hurt it, but couldn't think of anything. His mind was terribly blank and he didn't like it. He felt terribly uneasy. Jareth put his face in both of his hands, trying hard to recall what had happened.

Slowly, memories of the past day leaked back into his mind. Something strange had appeared at the gates to the Labyrinth. The goblins had awoken him and Sarah and told them of he goings on. He'd gone to investigate, leaving Sarah to care for Rin, and then he'd met . . .

"Well, well, you're awake at last," said a snide voice from behind him.

Jareth turned slowly around. A creature that he'd never seen before was standing at the doorway to the dark room. It was shaped like a man, but couldn't have looked less like one. It had long, shining black hair that fell past its shoulders. Its skin was scarlet with two glittering black eyes and a pointed nose. It was dressed in a midnight colored suite and was carrying a tray in its hands.

"Did you sleep well?" the creature asked, setting the tray down on a claw-footed end table near the bed. "My master expected that you'd be hungry, so we brought you up something to eat."

"Really?" said Jareth, still keeping a close eye on every move the creature made. "I didn't know daemons were capable of such charity."

"It's not charity," replied the daemon. "It's just orders. I'm surprised that you were able to tell what I was."

"And I'm surprised that your kind still exists," said Jareth, calmly turning to face the creature. "Unseelies like yourself were outlawed from the Underground many years ago, when the Fae still ruled over the land."

"Well, aren't you well informed," said the daemon. "The Seelie court did banish my kind, along with any other Dark or Unseelie creatures. Last I checked, however, they are no longer in charge, now are they?"

"How very clever of you," said Jareth. "Just where am I, exactly."

"You're at my master's manor," said the daemon.

"And by what rights does your master hold me prisoner?" asked Jareth, trying to keep the resentment out of his voice.

"Prisoner?" the daemon laughed. "My good sir, you're no prisoner. Indeed, you are my master's _guest of honor._"

"Am I?" said Jareth, bitterly.

"We've been waiting for you for a long, long time, Goblin King," said the daemon. "But my master is currently out at the moment. He'll return shortly. In the meantime, eat and replenish your strength."

"Your master wouldn't happen to be the slime that turned up at my home and told me to murder my own child, was it?" Jareth asked, sharply. "This _Reinhardt?_"

"You sure do ask a lot of questions," said the daemon, grinning widely and revealing very sharp, sinister-looking teeth.

"Well, was it?" asked Jareth, his voice raising. "What does that fiend want with my family?"

"Everything, I'm afraid," said the daemon. "I'm very sorry, Your Majesty, but I must be going. I said I'd alert someone when you came around. Oh, by the way, my name is Azzazel. Simply say my name three times in a row, and I'll come right over."

Azzazel laughed and left the room, locking it securely. He then walked down the corridor of the large manor into another door far at the other end. He opened it and peered inside. It was pitch black within, but he could see in the darkness as well as other creatures could in the light. He then noticed a figure sitting in a chair in the corner of this room and spoke to them.

"He's awake," Azzazel said.

The figure said nothing.

"Would you like to go and meet him, Your Grace?" Azzazel asked.

The figure still didn't say anything, but turned slowly to face the daemon. "What . . . does he look like?"

Azzazel cackled. "He's not what I expected, I'll tell you right now," he said. "But, still, I can see the similarities."

The figure's shoulder twitched. "We'll wait for Reinhardt's return," the figure replied. "Then we shall see."

"Yes," said Azzazel, laughing brightly. "We shall see indeed."


	7. Where Am I?

**Ying-Fa: Hey there, y'all! Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the delay. I am trying to stay ahead with my chapters, but it's proving harder than I thought. Thank you for your patience.**

Toby looked around at the immense white trees. They had to be at least three miles high, at least. The tops were covered in bright green leaves that shimmered in the ruby-colored light that was coming from the sun that was setting gently in the distance. This place seemed to be almost too beautiful to be real.

_Where am I?_ Toby thought, still gazing around the forest with his mouth open. _What happened?_ In an instant, he remembered falling out of his parent's window, trying to save Rin. _Wait a minute. Am I dead? Is this heaven? Aw, crap! What'll Mom and Dad think!?_

At that moment, Toby heard something move behind him. Something was coming towards him, very fast, scurrying through the leaf-strewn forest floor. He turned around, but didn't see anything until . . .

"Ouch!"

Something whacked him painfully in the leg. He lost his balance again and fell over just as something landed on his chest.

"Ha, ha, ha! Vile hellion that dares to sneak upon me and my men whilst we lay down our weapons in rest! You have already driven us from our home and you dare pursue us here! Fight, you knave!"

Toby blinked and saw, to his utter disbelief, a small creature standing on his chest. It looked like a fox on its hind legs, wearing a doublet and a fancy hat with an eye patch over one eye. It was brandishing a small rod in his face and was growling at him, showing pointed teeth.

_Okay, this is definitely not heaven,_ Toby decided. There was more movement and Toby looked around and saw a whole mass of creatures coming closer and closer. They were small, ugly, and smelly. They were somewhat distorted and wore armor and were brandishing various weapons.

"Stand and fight, you fiend," snapped the fox, jabbing the staff into the bridge of Toby's nose. "Surrender and you may stand a chance of survival."

"W-what are you talking about?" said Toby, too dazed to completely take in what was happening to him.

"Sir Didymus," said a voice from somewhere in the distance. "Leave that boy alone. All of you get away from him. And stop badgering him, for heaven's sake."

"I'm not a badger," said the fox, looking confused. Regardless, he hopped off of Toby's chest and the other creatures moved away as well. Toby pushed himself back up to his feet and gasped.

A woman stood before him. She had dark skin and pink hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a dark blue gown that exactly matched her eyes and she was staring at him with concern. Perhaps this was heaven after all.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Y-yeah," said Toby, embarrassed to feel his face reddening. "I-I'm okay."

"Are you Toby?" said the woman.

"Yeah, I'm . . . hey! How do you know my name?"

"Little Labyrinth told me," said the woman, turning around and smiling. "Labyrinth. Labyrinth! Toby's here, Labyrinth."

"Toby!"

Toby looked past the woman and saw Rin waddling over to him and beaming up at him. She reached him and lifted her arms to him. "Up! Up!" she insisted.

"Rin," said Toby, in relief, picking her up. "There you are. Man, what are you . . . what are we . . . where are we?" he asked the woman.

"You are in the Underground," the woman told him.

"Underground?" asked Toby, puzzled. "What the heck is the Underground?"

"Well, you are in it, good fellow," said the fox down at Toby's feet. "My Lady Ena, dost thou know this young chap?"

"It would appear that Labyrinth does," said the woman, looking at Rin in Toby's arms and beaming.

"Labyrinth?" said Toby, looking at the little girl he was holding. "Is that her full name?"

"Yes," said the woman. "She is Princess Labyrinth of the Goblin City."

"Princess?" Toby gasped. "Goblins?"

"What did you think we were? Ground beef?" asked one of the ugly creatures that surrounded them. They all seemed to find this funny, because they all started to cackle. Rin laughed too.

"You mean to tell me that these things are . . . are . . . _goblins?_" asked Toby, staring around at them. He then turned to the woman. "_You're_ not a goblin too, are you?"

The woman laughed. "No, no. I am a Fae. And Sir Didymus here is a member of the Fox Clan," she added, gesturing to the little fox, who whipped off his hat and bowed.

"Well met, Sir Toby," said Sir Didymus.

"But who might you be?" said Ena, staring critically at Toby. "Are you a Fae as well?"

"Fae?" said Toby. "No, I'm a human."

There was a collective gasp from the goblins. Then a reedy voice spoke up from amongst them. "A likely story!"

They all turned to see a goblin in a tweed suit with large brass buttons and a large amount of white hair growing out of two overlarge ears strut up to Toby, glaring up at him. "No human can simply come to the Underground without the assistance of a Fae. And not just any Fae, but a Fae of great power. Princess Labyrinth is way too young to be able to summon a human here, the King is currently imprisoned, and Lady Ena certainly hasn't done any such magic. I think that Reinhardt must have sent him here to fool us into lowering our guard!" he accused, pointing a knobby finger at Toby threateningly.

"Poppycock, Gagglewart," said Sir Didymus. "If that foul Reinhardt did sent Sir Toby here, then Princess Labyrinth wouldn't go near him. And look at her. She seems extremely content with him, indeed she does."

"You're putting your instincts on a child?" snapped the goblin called Gagglewart.

"Princess Labyrinth may be young, but she is an excellent judge of character," said Sir Didymus. "Most people would consider my brother-in-arms to be a frightful being, but the Princess took one look upon Sir Ludo and trusted him completely. He is now her honored playmate, you know?"

"And she certainly seems to like this boy," said Ena, smiling as Rin placed her head trustingly on Toby's shoulder. "But, I must admit, Gagglewart has a point. How did you come to be here, young Toby?"

Toby thought. "I . . . can't really say," he admitted. "One minute, I'm at home and the next thing I know, I'm here. I remember that I was about to call the police and then . . . wait! You guys said something about some guy named Reinhardt, didn't you? Who is that guy?"

"A foul being," growled Sir Didymus and the other goblins nodded in agreement. "He is the fiend who drove us from our home and imprisoned His Majesty and filled the Goblin City full of Salamanders."

"Salamanders?" said Toby, confused. "What's wrong with those? They can't hurt anyone."

Gagglewart let out a derisive snort. "What kind of Salamanders are _you_ talking about?"

"Well, what kind are _you_ talking about?" Toby countered.

"These aren't any old lizards, you fool," snapped Gagglewart. "These things are as big as Great Danes with fire flowing from every square inch of them. These things have claws the size of saucepans and they eat anything that's smaller than they are. That includes us!"

The goblins shuddered fearfully at these words. Ena nodded in agreement. "Yes, Reinhardt attacked the home of these creatures and captured their King. They took him far away and filled the city with Salamanders so that they cannot return. Thankfully, the Queen and the Princess went into hiding before the chaos reached them. I led them here, to the White Woods, where they would be safe."

"That's horrible," said Toby, feeling truly sorry for the creatures. "And . . . wait . . . did you say _Rin_ is your guys' _princess?_"

"Yes, she is," said Ena. "Please, Lord Toby, where is her mother? The last we heard, she and the Princess went into hiding in your world. The Queen would never leave the Princess's side."

"She must have," said Toby. "When I found Rin at the park, she was all alone. That's why I took her with me in the first place."

"What!?" gasped Sir Didymus, looking very taken aback. "Y-you mean to say that . . . that Her Majesty wasn't with the sweet Princess when you found her?"

Toby shook his head. Sir Didymus exchanged a frightened glance with Ena. "But, no!" said Didymus. "But . . . My Lady . . . what . . . what could have . . .?"

"Miss Ena!"

Three more creatures came scurrying over to them. One of them was what had to be yet another goblin, but Toby wasn't so sure about the other two. The goblin wore goggles, a jacket, and little mechanical wings. One of the other creatures was what looked to Toby, like a dwarf. He was short with grubby brown skin, an overlarge nose, and busy eyebrows over watery blue eyes. The third creature was huge, with mounds of orange hair and curved horns and large fangs.

"Hogga!" squealed Rin. "Oodo!"

"Rin?" said the dwarf. "What's she doing here? I thought she went Aboveground with her mom!"

"Rin," growled the monster. "Rin back." It started over toward Toby, who jumped in fright, but Rin reached out to it. The monster took her out of Toby's arms and placed her on its shoulders. "Rin back. Ludo happy."

"Miss Ena," cried the little goblin. "We've located the King!"

"You have?" said Ena, looking very relieved. "Oh, Tinker, tell me where he is."

"He's been taken to the Dread Isles," said the goblin named Tinker. "They've locked him up in a big, big castle."

"The Dread Isles?" gasped Ena. "The Unseelie lands?"

"No other place," said Hoggle, the dwarf. "My guess is that this Reinhardt is one of them Unseelies."

"If that is the case, then this shall be even more dangerous than I thought," said Ena. "The Unseelies were banished from our lands to the Dread Isles and ever since, anyone who goes there never return."

"Daddy," insisted Rin.

"I understand, Labyrinth," said Ena. "But still . . ." Ena hesitated, and then she turned to Toby. "Lord Toby, I know this is very strange for you, but could you please lend us your aid for just awhile longer. Until the King is found."

Toby gaped at her. "Me? You want me to help?"

"Yes," said Ena. "Princess Labyrinth has put her trust in you. She seems to believe that you can help us find her parents. Please, I promise we shall return you to your own world in time, but this is of the utmost importance. Will you help us?"

Toby felt slightly sick. Help these creatures? Him? How could he possibly? But as his eyes traveled over Ena's pretty, pleading eyes, the frightened looking goblins (with the exception of Gagglewart), the frowning faces of Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus, and Rin's tiny, almost indistinguishable whimper of "Please?", he knew the only answer he could give.

"Okay," he said, nervously. "I'll . . . try."

**Ying-Fa: There it is. Okay, continue to review your little hearts out. **


	8. A Rescue and A Reading

**Ying-Fa: Word people! Here's the next chapter for you!**

Toby still had a pretty hard time believing he was where he was. One minute, he was sitting at home, by himself for the first time ever, and the next he's in another world accompanying a beautiful woman, a cute little girl, a dwarf, a monster, a fox riding on a dog, and a whole squad of goblins. It was like he'd walked right into one of his fantasy movies.

"This way," said the goblin named Ringworm.

"No, it's this way," argued Gagglewart. "The Dread Isles are that way!"

"Who made you the boss?" snapped another goblin.

"I made me the boss," countered Gagglewart.

"Are you alright?" Ena whispered gently to Toby.

"Me?" said Toby, feeling himself go a bit red. "Oh. Oh, yeah. Of course I'm alright."

"You seem a little flustered," she observed.

"Do I?" said Toby, grinning rather stupidly. "Well, I . . . I guess I'm still a bit shocked, that's all. I mean, who expects to find themselves here on a Friday night, right?"

"I normally wouldn't have asked you to come with us," said Eva. "But I've never tried taking Abovegrounders back and forth between worlds and I didn't want to risk hurting you or myself. Also . . ."

"I'm telling you, it's this way!" snapped yet another goblin.

"I said it's that way!"

"Let's try that way!"

"Which way is that way?"

"That way."

"What way?"

"That way!"

"That way?"

"No! _That_ way!"

"I'm not used to traveling with goblins and I'm confused and lost and I didn't know what else to do," Ena moaned, anxiously.

"You don't normally travel with these guys?" Toby asked.

"No," said Ena. "I don't live in the Goblin City or anywhere in the labyrinth for that matter. I live a few miles into the Waste at the Silver Tower. What about your home? Tell me about the Aboveground. I want to hear about it."

"It's not a big deal," said Toby. "We certainly don't have goblins for that matter. Well, not real ones. Just fake ones in movies and stuff. We aren't anything like this place but . . . still . . ."

"Yes," prompted Ena.

"I feel kinda weird," said Toby, honestly. "Like . . . I dunno . . . like I've been here before. But how could that be possible? There's no way I could have been here before. It kinda feels like . . . like a piece of me is still here."

He looked over at Ena, saw her puzzled expression, and then smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I must be sounding totally random right now."

"Oh no, don't apologize," Ena insisted. "It makes perfect sense. Things aren't always what they seem in this place. Perhaps there is a missing piece of you that remains here."

"Yeah, I wish," said Toby, lightly. "There's nothing special about me, that's for sure. The only reason anybody knows about me is because of what happened to my sister. She vanished a long time ago."

"You lost your sibling?" said Ena, looking truly sorry for him. "My humblest apologies for bringing up such a horrible experience."

"Nah, it's nothing that bad," said Toby, shrugging off her apology. "Technically, she was only my half sister. Still, I always wanted to become a detective or a private investigator, just so I can find out what happened to her."

"What was her name?" Ena asked, politely.

"Oh, I didn't say it yet?" said Toby, grinning. "Her name's . . ."

"Lady Ena! Look yonder!"

Ena and Toby looked up. They'd reached some kind of vast lake and, in it's center, where a multitude of small islands.

"The Lake, madam," said Sir Didymus. "And just beyond it, the Dread Isles."

Ena shivered. "Oh, I don't like being anywhere near that place," she said. "It scares me terribly."

"You don't have to go," said Toby, boldly. "I can go."

"A wise decision, Sir Toby," said Didymus. "Sir Toby, Sir Hoggle, Sir Ludo, and I shall go forth and retrieve the King. Lady Ena and the rest should take the Princess and find shelter until we return."

"_If_ you return," Gagglewart pointed out. "Nobody goes into Unseelie territory and comes out alive."

"Regardless, we shall try," said Didymus.

Ludo reached up and took Rin carefully off his huge, furry shoulder, where she had been laying and nodding off peacefully, and handed her to Ena. "Rin be good?" he asked the dozing little girl.

Rin simply sighed sleepily and snuggled close to Ena.

"There are a few ruins not far from here," said the goblin called Tinker. "I think they might be abandoned. We can take the princess there."

"An excellent idea," said Didymus. "Come brethren. Let us press onward."

"Um, are you sure about this?" said Toby, gazing at the islands not far off. There was something of a threatening air to them.

"Well, there ain't no stopping Didymus now," said Hoggle, grumpily. "Grr. I hate it when he volunteers me to go and do stuff when I don't wanna."

"We shall see you soon then," said Ena, nodding to them.

"Toby?" asked Rin, opening an eye to gaze blearily at him.

"Don't worry," said Toby, gently to the princess. "I'll be back. And I'll have your dad with me too."

"Daddy," mumbled Rin, before closing her eyes contentedly and falling asleep.

"We shall see you soon," said Ena. "Good luck."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

After about an hour, Jareth had had enough. He hadn't touched the food that Azzazel had left him, even though it consisted of all of his favorite things to eat. He didn't know why, but the very thought that these fiends had known what he liked was unnerving. Finally, he got up from the bed he'd been sitting on and went over to the door and pulled on the handle. It wouldn't budge.

Fuming, Jareth summoned up a crystal and tossed it into the air. As it fell, it became a battering ram and it hurled itself at the door. But before it could make contact with the door, it vanished. Jareth went over and looked closer at the door. Something beyond it must have been blocking him from using magic. Sighing, he realized he was going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. He went over to the roaring fire in the corner, carefully picked up one of the burning logs and placed the burning half against the door.

It was as he expected. The fire had been conjured by magic. The wood could not withstand the magic heat. The wood started to char and weaken. Once the whole thing was ablaze, he lifted a chair that sat next to the bed and hurled it at the door. The chair went right through the burned wood and the door shattered.

"Not bad," said Jareth, carefully stepping through the door. "But not very good either." He looked down and noticed that someone had poured a line of salt around the outer door. So that was why his crystal magic hadn't worked. Stepping over the salt and the remains of the door, he walked down the long, dark hallway he was now facing.

There were no torches or candles to shed any light on the place, but he could make out the faint outlines of paintings all over the shadowy walls. He couldn't see any of the subjects of the paintings. Unnerved and alert, Jareth made his way down one end of the passage. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like somebody whistling tunelessly not far from where he was. He followed the sound, his footsteps echoing ominously as he walked.

Before long, the whistling lead him to a door at the far end of the passage. Jareth took hold of the handle of the door and it opened noisily. Inside was what looked like a dining hall, but one that was just as dark and satanic-looking had his bedroom had been. Sitting at the head of the table, whistling and shuffling a deck of cards was . . .

"You!" snarled Jareth. "Reinhardt. Why have you brought me here?"

Reinhardt stopped whistling and looked around at Jareth, grinning cheekily at him. "Hello, hello, hello, Jareth. How nice to see you up and about. You're such a deep sleeper; I thought I'd accidentally killed you. You still look tired, though. Didn't Azzazel leave you something to eat?"

"Enough of this," hissed Jareth. "_Why have you brought me here_?"

"Because you stopped me in apprehending the changeling," said Reinhardt, resuming his shuffling. "You were very rude about it. And on top of that, you sent the changeling and its mortal mother to the Aboveground, where you thought you could hide them from me."

"That _changeling_," growled Jareth. "Is my daughter! Why in all the Underground would I have given her to you!?"

"Because that's what you should have done," said Reinhardt. "Jareth, my boy, you're traveling down that very same, very shameful path that lead to the Age of Lovely Blood, so long ago. Do you want to bring such chaos to the Underground yet again?"

"If it means protecting my wife and child from the likes of you, then yes," said Jareth, furiously. "I've had enough of this. Release me, now!"

"Temper, temper," said Reinhardt. "We haven't even started your reading yet."

"My what?" snapped Jareth.

"Your reading," said Reinhardt. He was now placing cards on the table, one in the center of the table and three underneath it. "My readings are always accurate. I _am_ one of the last tarot masters in the Underground, now aren't I?"

"I don't want any part in your pointless schemes," bellowed Jareth.

"Don't you?" said Reinhardt. "But, my boy, this reading is about you. See?" He flipped over the top card. Upon it was a regal and impressive looking man wearing regal robes and a crown. "The Emperor card. That's you, my boy."

"Is it now?" said Jareth, folding his arms and glaring at this offender.

"Yes," said Reinhardt. "Now, let's take a gander at your past, hm?" He flipped over the card on the left of the bottom row. This card had the picture of a man curled up and fitted into a shell. "The Hermit card, how interesting. This means that, in your past, you've had to seclude yourself from the world. Living has been lonely and unfulfilling."

Jareth's insides twitched. It was a strangely accurate prediction.

Reinhardt flipped over the next card. This one pictured a man and a woman wrapped together in an intimate embrace. "Your present reveals the Lovers. What a strange twist! You abandon a life of solitude and find comfort and warmth in the arms of another. Your companion, that mortal woman I presume, has become your life and you are hers. And the union brought forth good fortune. If you can call a changeling fortuitous."

"That's enough," snapped Jareth. "I'm done with you and your games. Let me go, now!"

"Hold it!" cried Reinhardt. "You can't leave yet! The last card is the best part! Don't you want to see your future?"

"I know what my future is," snapped Jareth. "It's being rid of you, finding my wife and child and returning to the labyrinth, where we belong."

"Well, _I'm_ going to look," said Reinhardt. He flipped over the last card, frowned slightly, then placed all four cards back into the deck. "Well, that is interesting enough. Still, I can't let you leave. I have somebody that I want you to meet first."

"Really?" said Jareth sarcastically. "And who might it be?"

"I'll bet you'll be very glad to meet him," said Reinhardt, a cruel smile twisting his face. "He's waited a long time to see you. Azzazel, Azzazel, Azzazel!"

Out of nowhere, the daemon that had appeared in Jareth's room was standing right next to Reinhardt.

"I've already seen this foul daemon," hissed Jareth. "I want nothing to do with him and his ilk, or yours for that matter."

"Gee, aren't you Mr. Impatient," said Reinhardt, but he was smiling. "Azzazel, the time has come. Go and fetch . . . Kyrie."

"Yes Your Excellency," said Azzazel, flashing Jareth a cruel, sharp-toothed smile. "But there's something you ought to know. There's something coming across the lake. I think its some of those labyrinth rodents coming to save him," he glanced pointedly at Jareth.

"Well, we'd better speed things up then, mustn't we?" said Reinhardt. "Still, Kyrie comes first. I'll see about the . . . pest control."

"Yes," said Azzazel, and he vanished.

"Don't you dare harm those creatures," hissed Jareth.

Reinhardt smiled buoyantly at him. "My boy, I really don't think that it's those creatures you should be worried about. Mark my words, Jareth m'boy, I'll get you to see sense, or we'll have no choice but to force sense upon you."

And with that, he disappeared.

**Ying-Fa: There you go peoples! Okay, I'm going to be going on a trip . . .**

**Nagini-chan: Dang it, you go on a lot of those, don't you? Reviewers are gonna be pissed, you know.**

**Ying-Fa: I didn't ask for commentary, you stupid snake! Yes, I'll be leaving on Friday, and will stay gone for an entire week. I already have the next chapter planned out and half-written so hopefully I'll be able to update before I leave. Please leave me your reviews and I'll try my best to bring the next chapter before Friday.**


	9. Slightly Mad

**Ying-Fa: Reinhardt would not exist if not for this song. He first strolled into my head, along with most of this story, when I was listening to it. He was always singing it in my head, so I had him singing it here. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please read, review, and enjoy.**

"Wow, who'd have thought he was such a good swimmer?"

Toby, Sir Didymus, Hoggle, and a shaggy sheepdog were now making their steady way across the lake towards the Dread Isles. They were all sitting on Ludo's large back as he swam across the river, his huge arms working in a very impressive breaststroke and his feet and tail flapping in the water.

"Sir Ludo is full of surprises," said Sir Didymus. "He is a true knight, that's for sure."

"I guess," said Toby, not really getting it. "Hey, where'd you get the dog, Didymus?"

"Ah, this is Ambrosius," said Didymus, indicating the sheepdog. "He is my loyal steed and noble companion."

"And a bigger coward you can't find," mumbled Hoggle. "'Cept maybe me, that is."

"He's cool," said Toby, patting Ambrosius's head. "My sister used to have a dog just like this. His name was Merlin, but he died just before . . . my sister left home."

Toby was too busy scratching Ambrosius's ears to notice Hoggle and Didymus glance significantly at each other. Before long, Ludo carried them to the Isles. It was a very dark, foreboding place. There were dark trees surrounding the isle, but these were not nearly as beautiful or as friendly as the White Woods. These were dark and menacing with black leaves and contorted trunks and branches. The slight breeze that blew quietly through the menacing trees seemed to speak quietly.

_You're not supposed to be here._

"This place gives me the creeps," said Toby, shivering slightly as he stepped off Ludo's back and onto dry ground.

"Quite so," said Didymus. "But His Majesty is certainly here. We must retrieve him at all costs."

Ludo climbed out of the lake and then shook like a dog and dried off his fur, soaking Toby, Hoggle and Didymus as he did so. Ludo looked around at the threatening area and growled meekly.

"Ludo scared," he mumbled.

"Don't worry, big guy," said Toby, patting Ludo's shoulder. "Let's just get done and get out of here."

"Yeah," said Ludo, and they began to walk. Hoggle and Didymus, however, fell back.

"You know, don't you?" whispered Hoggle. "There are way too many coincidences for it to be a coincidence."

"Sir Hoggle, we mustn't speak to him of it," said Didymus. "What if we are mistaken?"

"But we _can't_ be mistaken," said Hoggle. "The dog named Merlin who died, the fact Rin likes 'im so much, the _name_ . . ."

"But even if he is," Didymus lowered his voice even further. "_That individual_, it is not our place to speak of it. It is for the Majesties and nobody less."

"Grr, I don't like it," snapped Hoggle. "Why're we keepin' secrets?"

"Don't you think Her Majesty would want to be the one to reveal it? If for no other reason, do it for her, Sir Hoggle."

"Hey, are you guys coming or what?" Toby called over to them.

"Oh, yes," said Didymus. "We're coming Sir Toby."

The four walked through the dark trees, nervously. The woods were dark and creepy and seemed to have blocked out the sun entirely, making Toby feel like it went from noon to midnight in a few minutes time. Once or twice, he could have sworn he saw a pair of eyes watching them, but they'd blink and disappear the instant he turned for a better look.

"Gentlemen, up ahead," said Didymus.

Just beyond the trees, they could make out an enormous building. It looked like a very big mansion, or a rather small castle. It was made of stone with large doors made of oak and finely crafted pillars and two tall turrets. It reminded Toby of a stone version of the Winchester Mystery House, which he'd visited with his parents while on vacation in California. The only problem was, this house had no windows, wasn't surrounded by cheery California sunlight, and the Winchester Mystery House was supposed to be haunted.

"Do you think someone's home?" Toby asked the others.

"I don't think we should go in there," whimpered Hoggle. Toby turned around. Sir Didymus was the only one who did not seem afraid. Hoggle, Ludo, and Ambrosius were all shaking in fear and eyeing the large house with what may have been terror.

"Well, what if your king is in there?" Toby asked. "We came here to find him. So we might as well ask."

"Kid, there are _Unseelie_ in there," hissed Hoggle.

"You knew that when you came here," said Toby. "Well, if you won't check it out, I will."

Toby walked up to the large doors, ignoring the frightened gasps and suggestions of the creatures behind him.

"Kid, no! Come back!"

"H-House bad."

"There's a good lad, Sir Toby! Knock on the door, that's it!"

"Arf!"

Toby stepped right up to the doors, hoping to look braver than he felt. He raised his hand, hesitated, and then banged his fist on the overlarge doors. "Open up!" he called out. "Hey, is anyone there! Come on, let us in!"

To his immense surprise, the doors creaked open slowly and loudly. Toby blinked, then turned to smile at the creatures. "See it's not so bad. Come on, let's get inside."

Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus made their slow way onto the front steps and followed Toby inside the manor. It was absolutely pitch black inside. Just as Ambrosius's tail whipped into the room, the doors closed with a loud BANG! Hoggle nearly jumped out of his skin, but nobody saw it.

"Hey, where is everybody!?" Hoggle called.

"Someone turn on the lights," Toby yelled.

"Ludo scared!" roared Ludo.

"No need to worry, Ambrosius," said Didymus. "I think our troubles are over."

He couldn't have been more wrong.

In the next instant, lights came on so quickly and so brightly, they had to shield their eyes from the burn it caused. When their eyesight cleared, the friends found themselves surrounded completely by mirrors. The saw themselves reflected again and again as the mirrors began to spin, making them dizzy. What was worse, the floor underneath their feet started to spin as well, making them even dizzier. Ludo was the first to lose his footing and fall to the ground. Hoggle followed not long after that.

"Th-this place is a fun house!" Toby cried, trying to stay upright.

"_Fun!?_" cackled a voice that seemed to come from the very room itself. Toby glanced into the mirrored walls and gasped. It was the man who had come to his house and had tried to take Rin away from him. He turned around, but Reinhardt wasn't among them. He was simply reflected, over and over, in the endless mirrors that lined the room.

"Well, if it isn't the little Fool from the Aboveground," said Reinhardt's reflection, happily. "So you did find your way here. I would ask you how you did it, but I don't see how it'll matter, seeing as you won't be alive much longer to tell me. This may be a _fun house_, buddy boy, but the only one allowed to have fun here is me!"

Reinhardt laughed menacingly and then, he began to sing:

**"When the outside temperature rises,**

**And the meaning is oh so clear**

**One thousand and one yellow daffodils**

**Begin to dance in front of you, oh dear!**

**Are they trying to tell you something?**

**You're missing that one final screw.**

**You're simply not in the pink, my dear**

**To be honest you haven't got a clue! Oh dear!"**

Reinhardt's voice echoed around the room at a terrible volume, hurting their ears, making their brains throb. That mixed with the terrible, endless spinning and the four friends felt themselves going out of control.

**"I'm going slightly mad**

**I'm going slightly mad**

**It finally happened-happened**

**It finally happened- ooh oh**

**It finally happened- I'm slightly mad!**

**Oh dear! Hahahaha!"**

"No more!" cried Hoggle.

"Encore?" said Reinhardt, giggling. "Did you say encore? Why thank you very much, little wart, I've only just begun. Here, why don't you meet, my special friends?"

Reinhardt took out his deck of tarot cards, pulled out a whole wad of them and spilled them out from each mirror, scattering them all around them before starting to sing again.

**"I'm one card short of a full deck,**

**I'm not quite the shilling.**

**One wave short of a shipwreck,**

**I'm not my usual top billing!"**

The cards righted themselves on their own. There were ten of them in total. Before Toby could even clear his head to get a decent looks at the pictures, the cards began to spin rapidly and, in an instant, they vanished and were replaced with ten, sinister looking men. Each man had from one to ten swords in his hands. You heard me, ten.

**"I'm knitting with only one needle,**

**Unraveling fast, its true!**

**I'm driving only three wheels these days,**

**But my dear, how about you?"**

The Suit of Swords charged at the fallen friends, who scrambled away for their lives. The Ace of Swords swung and Toby, but he ducked and avoided the blow. Didymus was dueling valiantly with the Three of Swords, his small staff blocking each of the sword's attacks. Ludo picked up the Five of Swords and threw him bodily into one of the mirrors, but the mirror didn't even crack as the card made contact with it.

**"I'm going slightly mad!**

**I'm going slightly mad.**

**It finally happened!**

**It finally happened- oh yes."**

"Th-there's too many of them!" Toby cried as the Ten of Swords swung all of its mighty blades at him. "We-we're gonna get cut to ribbons!"

"Not like this!" moaned Hoggle, running as fast as his legs would carry him from the Seven of Swords. "Oh, please! I can't die like this!"

**"It finally happened.**

**I'm slightly mad!**

**Just very slightly mad!**

**And there you have it!"**

Reinhardt laughed triumphantly as the friends dropped to the ground, surrounded by the Swords, all of them pointing their blades at them. Even Didymus had had enough. He was sprawled against a cowering Ambrosius's back, panting.

"This, I'm afraid, is where it ends," said Reinhardt. "May you find solace in whatever afterlife awaits you. Ta ta!"

CRASH!

One of the mirrors shattered as a small, crystal ball came smashing through it. The ball bounced around and it the other mirrors. Toby and the others shielded themselves against the mirror shards flying everywhere. The shards showered down on the Suit of Swords, which shrunk back down to their original card forms upon impact.

"Hey!" yelled Reinhardt. "What was that for?!"

Toby looked up just in time to see a man walk through one of the destroyed mirrors, glaring at the last remaining mirror from which Reinhardt's face was still showing.

"I told you that you weren't to harm these creatures," growled Jareth. "Release us, now."

"You know," sneered Reinhardt. "I'm getting really t. with your attitude, Jareth. Haven't I told you that you can't go until you've met Kyrie?"

"And haven't _I_ told _you_ that I want no part in whatever you're planning," snapped Jareth.

"Y-your Majesty," whimpered Hoggle. "Y-you're here. Quick, we've gotta get to . . ."

"Be quiet, Hogbrain," Jareth hissed, and then he turned back to Reinhardt. "Either you can free us, or I will force you to let us go. You're choice."

"Hm," said Reinhardt, apparently deep in thought. "I pick . . . door number three!"

"Enough," yelled Jareth. "What is your plan with me?"

"It isn't what he wants with you," said a voice from nowhere. "It is what is meant to be."

Everyone turned to look at the new comer. Another man entered the room through the destroyed mirrors, just as Jareth had. One look at him, and Jareth's heart seemed to freeze.

He was tall and built well with slicked back, short blonde hair. But it was his eyes that caught Jareth's attention. Both of his icy blue eyes were exactly like his right eye, exactly the same color and shape. But his nose was smaller than his, and his cheeks seemed a little sunken. Regardless, there was no mistaking the striking resemblances between the two.

"May I present, my godson and protégé, Kyrie," announced Reinhardt, smiling wickedly.

Kyrie grinned and bowed to Jareth, never taking his eyes off his face. "So, your name is Jareth. I see. I've waited a very, very long time to finally meet you."

"Who-who are you?" said Jareth, his voice coming out in barely more than a whisper.

Kyrie smiled a smile that was dark as hell itself. "Like I said, I've waited a long time for this," he replied, pulling out a knife from behind his back. "I am your death."

**Lyrics from "I'm Going Slightly Mad" by Queen.**

**Ying-Fa: See you in a week! (Mwahahahahahaha!)**


	10. You Remind Me Of The Babe

**Ying-Fa: I am SO sorry for the wait. It has been busy as heck after I got back from my trip. I finally found time to write again. So without any ado, whatsoever, the next chapter.**

Toby didn't have a clue as to what was going on. The man who had saved them, who he presumed was the king they were looking for, was now staring intensely at the newcomer, who Reinhardt had introduced as Kyrie, as if he were transfixed.

"So long have I dreamt of this moment," said Kyrie, raising his knife to point it at Jareth's heart. "Now, my dream is to be realized, at long last. My purpose, my destiny, has come to me."

"Your destiny?" said Jareth softly. He was backing slowly away from Kyrie, his feet crushing the shattered glass with the heels of his boots. "What are you talking about?"

"Just what I said," replied Kyrie with a twisted smile. "Our fates are bound, Jareth, and always have been. We cannot both remain alive forever. One must die, and that shall be you."

Toby watched the two of them, panicking. Kyrie was about to kill Jareth? He was about to die? But . . . what would happen then? What would happen to Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus? To Rin? To him!?

But then a voice came into his head. It was a strong, fierce, solid voice that seemed to come from someone else's head, rather than his own.

_Jareth must not die. Save him._

Before he could even contemplate what would happen to him if he did it, Toby stood up and ran between the two men.

"Stay away," he shouted at Kyrie. "Leave him alone."

Jareth and Kyrie both stared at him in surprise for a moment, then Kyrie laughed.

"I doubt I need to tell you just how easily and effortlessly I can hurt you boy," he said. "Don't even think about interrupting this. No good will come of acting the hero. Get out of my way, or I'll cut you down where you stand."

Jareth barely heard Kyrie's threat. He was staring at the boy in front of him. There was something about him . . . but it _couldn't_ be . . . could it? But there could be no mistake. Perhaps it was the red and white stripped shirt he was wearing . . .

"No," snapped Toby. "Leave us alone! Let us go."

Kyrie didn't even reply this time. There was a split second where Jareth took his eyes off Toby and knew what Kyrie was about to do. He shoved Toby out of the way just as Kyrie's knife came slashing down.

"Aaargh!"

Toby hit the ground just as he heard Jareth scream in pain. He twisted around to see Jareth kneeling now, holding tightly to his arm. There was a long, deep slash there and was now bleeding freely, soaking his white shirt. Kyrie looked at his knife, saw Jareth's blood that was shining on it and set out a triumphant chuckle.

"Told you it wouldn't be so hard, didn't I?" came Reinhardt's eerie voice from behind Toby. Toby didn't have time to turn around before Reinhardt grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, pulled him roughly to his feet, and then grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, exposing his neck. "Finish it Kyrie. Then we can celebrate by torturing the little hero here." He shook Toby's head painfully. Toby felt a few hairs part company with his scalp.

Then, as if from another time, Toby heard Hoggle's gruff voice, full of panic and fear, from somewhere in the room.

"What are you waiting for, you overgrown yak! This place is made of rock! MAKE USE OF IT!!!"

"Oh? OH!!"

Then, an unearthly sound filled the room. A loud, deep howling echoed around the shattered mirrors, making every head turn toward the source of the noise. Ludo was howling, his strange cry echoing endlessly through the hall. At once the stones that made up the structure of the mansion trembled in their settings, trying to get closer to Ludo's voice. Then they came crashing down upon them all, from the ceiling, walls and floor.

Reinhardt cried out in surprise and released Toby. Jareth made use of Kyrie's distraction and hurried over to Toby, grabbed him and pulled him away from the two villains. Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus hurried together while the rocks fell down upon them all.

"Great plan!" Toby yelled as he and Jareth hurried toward the creatures, dodging falling stones as they went. "We don't want this place to come crashing down while we're in it!"

"Yeah, I forgot about that," cried Hoggle, his hands over his head.

"No!" cried Kyrie, avoiding the attacking rocks. "No! I've waited too long for this!"

"We've gotta get out of here!" yelled Toby. "The whole place is about to collapse on . . . huh?"

At that moment, Jareth waved his hands in an elegant manner. Six sparkling crystals appeared in his palms, spinning and clinking gently. With a final, unsure glance at Kyrie, Jareth tossed the crystals in the air. Toby barely had time to see them fall before he was falling himself. He plunged into a deep nothingness and fell down . . . down . . .

Toby came back to reality as his eyes snapped open. They were no longer in the collapsing mansion. There were at the bank where they'd said goodbye to Ena and the other goblins before setting out to find Jareth.

"Wh-what happened?!"

Toby looked around. Hoggle, Ludo, Didymus, and Ambrosius were all there with him, looking as disorientated and confused as he was.

"Hey!" Toby cried. "Where's Jareth? He's not still in there is he?"

But just as Toby spoke, he heard a soft hoot. He turned to see a white barn owl lying next to him on its side. One of its wings was covered in blood from a keep cut in it, much like the one Kyrie had given Jareth.

"His Majesty!" cried Didymus. "He must have magicked us out of there."

"What happened to him?" Toby cried, looking at the barn owl in fear.

"He must've used a lot of his magic to get us out," said Hoggle, looking over at the bird. "Not only did he get us outta there, but he got us off the Dread Isle. And with that cut in his arm, no less. He's just tired 'imself out. He's like this to conserve what energy he's got left. He'll change back once his power's back."

"Oh, well, that's good," said Toby. "What do we do now?"

"Let us take him back to Lady Ena," said Didymus. "We did tell her that we'd inform her once we found His Majesty."

"Good idea," said Toby. He reached out toward the owl, but it bat its good wing and him and snapped its beak indignantly.

"Hey, attitude like that's not gonna help," snapped Toby, feeling a little foolish for talking to an owl. "You're not gonna get anywhere with your wing like that, so I'm gonna have to carry you. You don't like it, then we'll leave you here to bleed to death. Your choice."

The owl glared at him with one black eye, but then seemed to sigh and held still. Toby bent down and took the owl into his arm. It bristled and squirmed uncomfortably for a second then relaxed, still glaring at him.

"Well, that'll have to do," said Toby. "Come on guys. Lead the way Didymus."

"Right. Ambrosius, forward!"

They walked away from the Lake and took the path that Ena and the others took. The owl continued to twitch and fidget in Toby's arm, hot and bothered, clearly embarrassed about having to be carried. It was getting steadily darker. The sun was setting and everything was falling into shadow. They moved together until a ruined castle appeared in the distance. Once they'd reached the doors, Toby looked around for a way in.

"Hello!" he called. "Ena! Where are you!? Hello! For heavens sake, hello!"

"Hello! Hello! What do you want boy!?"

The group all gasped. At the top of the doors, the silhouette of a man came into view through the darkening sky. They couldn't make out any features, only grizzled hair and his deep gruff voice.

"Hey up there!" Toby called. "We're looking for a lady named Ena and a bunch of goblins that were with her. Are they here?"

"They're here and well boy," the man called down. "What did you want with 'em, anyway?"

"I need to give her this owl," said Toby, lifting the owl slightly, causing the owl to beat its wing at him again. "He's hurt."

"Oh, well why didn't you say so boy?" said the man, sounding delighted. "Bring 'im in. It's around dinnertime anyway."

"No! We're not gonna eat it!" Toby cried in disgust as the owl screeched in defiance.

"Well why not!?" roared the man. "It's not lent already is it?"

"Grr!" growled Hoggle. "Open the doors already, you coot! We need to get in and see Ena! You gonna open the doors or not!?"

"Open the doors at once!" demanded Didymus. "Or I shall fight you all to the death!"

"This isn't an ordinary owl!" Toby insisted. "He's a Fae in disguise. He's hurt his arm. Please, he's the Goblin King!"

"A Fae, you say?" said the man. "Well by Zeus, why didn't you say so boy? Bring 'im in. Bring 'im in."

The doors opened and the doors at last, and Toby and the others went inside. If you could call it an 'inside'. All of the walls and doors were broken with deep holes in everywhere. Some places had been clumsily mended with wood so that it wouldn't collapse. In what used to have been a main hall, sat Ena and the goblins, sitting around a fire that they'd built in the center of the room. The room now only had one real wall and no ceiling.

Ena saw them enter and sprang to her feet. "You've returned! Oh, I'm so glad you're alright. Jareth!" she cried once she'd spotted the owl. "No! What happened to him?"

"He got hurt," said Toby. "Hoggle said he's like this to conserve energy or something."

"Yup, Fae do that," said the gruff voice from before. Toby turned and got his first good look at the man who had let them in. He was old and kinda ugly, with a round gut and a hooked nose and a vulture-like frame. "Bring 'im here, boy. I'll see to him."

The man led Toby away from the group of curious-looking goblins. Only Ena followed them. Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus stayed with the goblins, who had a big pot of stew waiting for them. The man pulled back a curtain that covered a hole in the only wall. Past the curtain was a small room with a bed and ointments fitted on wobbly shelves that were barely clinging to the walls.

Toby laid the owl on the bed and the man grabbed a few of the ointments from the shelves and dabbed them on the owl's wing. At once the owl lashed out and screeched.

"Get used to it," snapped the man. "If it hurts, then it works! Now hold still."

"Ena, where's Rin?" Toby asked. At once, the owl's head snapped over in their direction.

"She's asleep," said Ena. "Sir Leon here found a place for her to sleep."

"I was going to ask about that child," said the man, who was apparently named Leon. "You, boy, is this that child's parent?" he pointed at the now-still owl.

"Yeah," said Toby.

Leon didn't reply. He bent down and took a closer look at the owl, as if waiting for something. Slowly, the owl started to grow and change. Within moments, Jareth had returned in his original form, unconscious. Leon took one look at Jareth's sleeping form, and his eyes watered over.

"Dear Lord of the Sky, I've seen the last of them," he whispered. "There's no mistaking it. This is, without a doubt . . . the heir to the Fae Kingdom."

**Ying-Fa: FINALLY done. Man, I'm so tired. I . . . could . . . just . . . zzzzzz.**

**Nagini-chan: Hopeless as always, Ying-Fa. (shakes head) Well, leave your reviews and I promise you she'll get to work again once she wakes up.**


	11. A Queen In Peril

**Ying-Fa: As per your requests, Sarah (bows).**

Things couldn't be going any worse. Sarah's managed to escape from the hospital once her doctor and those infuriating nurses had finally left her alone. She'd found her clothes and had clumsily dressed herself one-handed, seeing as her left arm was in a cast, and sneaked out when she was sure nobody was watching.

Sarah knew that she was particularly worse for wear. Her arm was broken, she was limping and her entire left side was throbbing now that the pain killers the doctors had given her were wearing off. She wasn't worried about herself though. She knew she'd be fine once she was back Underground with Jareth. It was Rin she was worried about. She'd tried to figure out just where she'd been when she and her daughter had been separated, but found herself to be quite lost in the town she used to call home.

She'd just barely left the busy part of town and entered a small park, similar to the one she used to got to, when her pain become too much. She sat down on a bench and tried to breathe through her agony. How could she have let this happen? She should never have left the Underground, but Rin's safety was the most important thing right now, and she'd been unable to resist the temptation.

Sarah let out a long sigh that ended in a tiny sob. Everything had been going so wonderfully, and now this happened. That evil man had come to the labyrinth and had ruined everything. Sarah allowed herself to remember when the chaos had begun, and it made her feel, if possible, even worse.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah had felt the instant Jareth woke up. He'd sat bolt upright, breathing heavily. She, herself, had been so deeply asleep that it had taken her a second longer to wake up but once she'd managed that, she could tell at once that something wasn't right with her husband.

"Jareth? Jareth, what's wrong?"

Jareth turned his head to look at her, looking slightly relieved. She could tell at once that he'd been having a nightmare again. He never admitted it, but for awhile now, he'd been waking in the middle of the night, nervous and shaking. Immediately after he woke up, he'd get out of bed and quickly cross over into the room adjacent to theirs. That room was where Rin slept. He'd go in and check on her for about a minute, then he'd come back to bed and put his arm around her.

Sarah looked deep into her husband's eyes. Tonight's nightmare must've been particularly bad. There was cold sweat on his brow and his breathing was erratic. He didn't answer her question. He just pulled her over to him and held her close.

"You dreamt again," she said, stroking his back soothingly.

"Yes," he murmured, taking deep, calming breaths.

"Jareth, what's wrong," Sarah asked again. "What are these dreams about? Tell me."

Jareth pulled away slightly and looked into her eyes. He hesitated slightly, clearly reluctant to tell her what his dream had been about. This wasn't normal of him. He was usually perfectly open with her. If he didn't want to tell her about the nightmare, then it must've been really bad.

"Sarah . . . love, I . . ."

But at that moment, someone pounded on their door.

"YOUR HIGHNESSES! YOUR HIGHNESSES!"

Jareth growled in annoyance, got up, and threw on his robe. He always hated to be disturbed at night, even when he was already awake. He threw open the door to scowl at the two goblins who had been pounding on the door.

"Well," he snapped. "What's so important that you had to come banging on the doors of my chambers in the dead of night, hm?"

"Please, Your Majesty!" cried a goblin named Diggle. "There's a scary thing going around and around the labyrinth!"

"A scary thing?" repeated Jareth, a little less offensively.

"Yes, Your Highness," said the other goblin, named Skab. "The dwarf came to the castle and showed us the scary thing. There's other weird things happening too!"

"There's real sharp thorns a-growing really fast around where the scary thing is," said Diggle.

Jareth stood there quietly for a moment. "I'll go see to it," he said, then slammed the door in the goblin's faces.

"Jareth, what's going on?" Sarah asked, sliding out of bed and putting on her own robe.

"I don't know," said Jareth, his brow furrowed and his mismatched eyes intense. With a wave of one of his crystals, he was fully dressed in his finest, Goblin King attire. "I need to go see what they're talking about. Sarah, go check on Rin."

"Okay," said Sarah, and she went into Rin's room.

Rin was already awake. She was sitting up in her bed, looking scared. "Mama," she said, holding her hands out to her mother.

"What's wrong, baby?" Sarah asked, going over to her daughter and picking her up. "Are you okay?"

Rin didn't reply to that question either. She just put her head down on Sarah's shoulder and clung to her mother, seeking comfort. Sarah hugged her and patted her back soothingly, now starting to feel genuinely worried. There was something flying around the labyrinth, thorns growing in its wake, and both Jareth and Rin seemed to know something bad was happening. She went down to the throne room where most of the Goblin City were there, staring out the windows. Hoggle was there too, looking restless and frightened.

"Hoggle, what's going on?" Sarah asked, heading over to him.

"Sarah," said Hoggle, in relief. "I-I could've sworn I saw a-a daemon dragon wonderin' around the labyrinth with a Fae sittin' on its back. There were thorns growing wherever it walked."

"What's a daemon?" asked Sarah.

"They're sometimes called Black Beasts," said Hoggle. "They were banned from all populated areas of the Underground back when the Fae where in control. They can be monsters or kinda . . . people shaped. It depends on their mood, I guess. Sarah they're . . . they're _Unseelie_."

"Unseelie!" gasped the surrounding goblins. Then they all began to make strange movements. They were spinning around in circles, wiping their hands on their shirts, then spitting on the floor.

"Ew!" Sarah cried while Rin giggled on her shoulder. "Now stop that, all of you. Don't spit all over the floor like that!"

"Apologies, Your Majesty," mumbled the goblins, as if they were children apologizing to their mother for misbehaving, and began to clean up their spit.

"Hoggle, what _are_ Unseelie?" Sarah whispered to Hoggle, hoping the goblins wouldn't hear her and start spitting again.

"It's as bad as bad can go here in the Underground," Hoggle explained. "Things like good and evil don't have as many shades of gray down here as they do where you're from. There's Seelie and Unseelie where we are. Seelie, like Jareth, are the better of the two. They like causin' trouble and the like, but they don't do nothin' that'll really hurt someone unless they wholly and completely deserve it. Unseelie aren't like that. They do wicked, mean, and terrible stuff just because they can. Because they _like_ to. Sarah, they just _like hurting_ other living things."

Sarah stared at him and hugged Rin even tighter to her. "But why is one of them here? What does he want with us?"

"I don't know," said Hoggle, glancing out the window in fear. "I really, really don't know, Sarah."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

After about twenty, tension-filled minutes, Jareth returned. Rin had dozed off on Sarah's shoulder, but had refused to allow herself to be put down from her mother's shoulder.

"Jareth!" Sarah cried out in relief.

Jareth didn't reply. He looked harassed and fearful. His expression softened at the sight of his wife and child, but that didn't last too long.

"Sarah, there's . . . not a lot of time," he said.

"What's going on," Sarah demanded. "Jareth, please, just talk to me! Tell me what's going on. Hoggle said something about Unseelie . . ."

"Then Hedger was right," said Jareth, hurrying over to them. "That Fae is Unseelie and he . . . has put a threat on the labyrinth. And our child."

"R-Rin?" Sarah stammered, clutching her daughter to her. "W-what does that thing want with our baby girl?"

Jareth hesitated. "Sarah, have I ever told you what started the Age of Lovely Blood?"

Sarah hesitated. She'd heard enough about the terrible war of so long ago that had rendered Jareth's kind, the Fae, to near extinction. "No, you haven't. What does that terrible war have to do with anything?"

"Everything," sighed Jareth. He walked over to Sarah and took hold of her arms, looking right into her eyes. "Sarah, I know I've told you that my kind and yours used to mate all the time, didn't I?"

"Yes," said Sarah.

"Well," said Jareth, struggling to find words. "Some of the others didn't . . . didn't like that very much. They thought the ones who took humans as mates were poisoning our race. So changelings were particularly unwanted by these reluctant ones."

"Changelings?"

"Yes. A child born from a Fae and a human is called a changeling," said Jareth, taking his eyes off Sarah's to gaze at his daughter. "And so Rin . . . our child . . . is our changeling."

Sarah held Rin even tighter to her. "He . . . he wants Rin? Why? What for? What'll he do to her?"

"He's Unseelie," said Jareth, still staring at Rin's sleeping form. "Unless I'm mistaken . . . he'll probably kill her."

"No!" Sarah screamed. She clutched Rin to her and held onto her for dear life. The little girl awoke and squirmed in her mother's arms, scared and confused as ever. "No, he won't," sobbed Sarah. "He's not getting her. He's not touching my baby girl!"

"I won't let him," said Jareth, reaching out and stroking Rin's long hair. She calmed under his touch.

"Jareth," moaned Sarah, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "What are we gonna do? What can we do?"

"Hide her," said Jareth at once. "It's our best shot. You need to take her somewhere that he can't find her, and I'll settle the matters here. With the army."

"Where should I take her?" Sarah asked. "The Silver Tower?"

"No," replied Jareth. "Not safe enough. Our best shot is to take her Aboveground. He hasn't seen you yet. Take her to the Aboveground and keep her safe while I take care of things here."

"Aboveground?" said Sarah, in disbelief. "But . . . but I can't go back there. I gave up the Aboveground so I could be here with you."

"It's the best place to keep her away from him," said Jareth. "Take her to your parent's house. They should be delighted to see you again after all this time and to learn that they have a granddaughter as well."

Sarah thought about that. She hated the idea of leaving Jareth alone to face this monster that was threatening their child. If she went Aboveground she'd be away from all of the things she loved and held dear, with the one exception of her daughter. But, if she did go back, she could see her family again. Her father . . . Toby . . . . But what if they were furious with her for leaving them. What if Irene took one look at her, saw her with a child in her arms, and slammed the door in her face? Still, it was the safest thing for Rin right now and the thought of seeing Toby's bright, smiling face again was too much to resist.

"Okay," she mumbled, her eyes on the floor. "I . . . I don't like it. I don't like being away from you but . . . okay. I'll go."

Jareth took hold of her chin and lifted her face to look up at him. He leaned forward and placed his forehead against Sarah's, then gently pressed his lips to hers.

Jareth used magic to turn Sarah's robe and nightdress into a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, tennis shoes, and a brown coat. He turned Rin's pretty little nightgown into a modern, cute little purple dress that you would see on any little child in the Aboveground.

"Once the danger has passed, I'll come and collect you both," said Jareth, getting ready to magically transport his wife and child into another world. "I'll try and settle this . . . _matter_ . . . as quickly as I can."

"O-okay," said Sarah, uncertain of what was going to happen to her now.

"Sarah . . ."

Jareth had taken hold of Sarah's hand and placed it over his heart, then looked into her eyes meaningfully. "You won't be alone," he whispered. "This will be with you the entire time. Always remember that it's with you. That I'm with you."

Sarah was suddenly so overcome with love for him that, if not for the circumstances and Rin being in her arms, she would have ravished him right then and there.

"Take care of yourself and our child," he told her.

Sarah took one last look into his mismatched eyes before she felt herself starting to vanish.

"I will," she promised.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah sobbed in misery again, curling herself into a ball on the bench where she was sitting. She'd broken her promise to Jareth. Now she was stranded in another world with no money, no place to go, and with her child missing.

She and Rin had been walking around the town, heading for her parents house, after Jareth had sent them Aboveground. She'd been taking the shortcut through the woody terrain that surrounded her old, favorite park when she'd seen something. A creature in a black suit, with red skin and black eyes was wondering through the woods with them. Sarah'd panicked. She'd hidden Rin in a few bushed, promised that she'd be back for her in a second, then ran noisily through the woods. She could hear the thing following her, running further and further from Rin as he pursued. But Sarah had been so distracted, she hadn't even noticed she'd reached the street. Didn't see the car heading right for her until . . .

Sarah sighed. What was she to do now? Where was she supposed to go? What if her family didn't even live at that house anymore? What if Rin was scared and crying right now, all because her mother had abandoned her? What on earth would Jareth think if he came to get her, only to find her alone, without their child? The hospital staff were probably wondering what happened to her, but that didn't matter. They'd be looking for a woman named Linda Green, who was just a name compromised with Sarah's mother's name and her favorite color.

"Jareth," she whispered, tears in her eyes. "Jareth, please come and get me. I've done the most horrible thing. I've lost our daughter. Please, Jareth . . ."

"Well, well, well," said a sneering voice from behind her. "There you are . . . _Your Majesty._"

Sarah stood up, spun around, and screamed. There it was again. That monster with the red skin and dark eyes.

"I was most afraid for you when that carriage, or whatever it was, ran into you," said Azzazel. "I'm glad to see you're up and about so quickly. But what, pray tell, is that thing on your arm?"

"Get back," Sarah ordered. "Stay away from me! What have you done with my daughter?!"

"Have no fear for the changeling brat," said Azzazel. "She's back in the Underground, with her father. The problem is that Master Reinhardt's manor has been quite ruined by that Stone-Caller creature so that he and His Grace Kyrie have had to relocate." Azzazel sighed deeply. "Oh, I'm so bored."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," snapped Sarah.

"Yes," said Azzazel. "Well, come along then, your Highness." Without warning, Azzazel reached out and grabbed Sarah's good arm and pulled her toward him.

"Stop it! Let me go! Let go of me! Leave me alone!"

"Leave you alone?" said Azzazel, in mock confusion. "Why, my dear woman, I'm taking you home. I think you'll quite like what His Grace Kyrie has done with your lover's labyrinth. Much for satisfactory to the Unseelie tastes, you'll find."

Sarah screamed and struggled against him, but it wasn't enough. A few seconds later they vanished, leaving the world quiet and still.

**Ying-Fa: Yay! Oh, I mean, boo! Sarah's been taken by Azzazel! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN!?**

**Nagini-chan:You know, you keep acting like that and people aren't going to like you.**

**Ying-Fa: Again, peanut gallery, not needed! We'll jump back to Jareth and Toby in the next chapter. Please oh, please review. I do so love it when you do!**


	12. The Age of Lovely Blood

**Ying-Fa: Sorry about the wait. Finals are FINALLY OVER! Thank goodness. Now I've got more time, I'll try and be more consistant. Anyway, please enjoy this new chapter.**

"Heir?" said Ena, looking at Leon. "To the Fae Kingdom? I-I don't understand, sir."

"I doubt you would," said Leon, turning to her. "He was hardly born when the royal family fell to ruin."

"W-what are you guys talking about?" Toby asked.

"Never you mind, boy," snapped Leon. "This is something you wouldn't understand."

Toby stared at Leon, and then lost it.

"Okay, listen up, buster!" Toby yelled. "I've had a very, very rough day, okay?! I was just sitting at home, minding my own business, and the next thing I know I'm in another world! I've been chased, attacked, and confused as heck and nobody has bothered telling me the details and I'm fed up with it! Like it or not, buster, I'm a part of this. Rin chose to come to me! She came to _my _world, to _my _park, and into _my_ life! That Reinhardt guy is after me too, my parents are gonna ground me for life, and I think I deserve a little more than 'Never you mind!'"

Toby took a few deep breaths. It was kinda relieving to finally voice all the thoughts that were going on in his head. Leon stared at him for a moment, his expression was unfathomable.

"Did . . . you say . . . Reinhardt?" he asked, quietly.

Toby nodded.

Leon looked over at Jareth's unconscious form, then at Ena, then at Toby. He looked back over at Ena, and spoke this time. "That child you brought with you . . . the little girl . . . is a changeling, isn't she?"

Ena bowed her head. "She is."

"This explains everything," said Leon. "Everything I have feared for ever so long."

"I wish someone would explain it to me," snapped Toby.

"You shouldn't have gotten yourself involved in all of this, boy," said Leon, looking over at Toby, seriously. "You should have stayed in the Aboveground, where you'd be safe."

"I couldn't just leave Rin," said Toby. "She's just a little girl!"

"She's a changeling," said Leon. "And changelings were the very cause of a lot of terrible grief and sorrow in the Fae Court, so many years ago. Everything that I once found so wonderful about this world is now in shambles. It is thanks to the boundless hatred that people like Reinhardt hold for her and her innocent kind."

"This world?" asked Toby. "What . . . are you . . . that is to say . . . aren't you . . . _from_ here?"

Leon glared at him with one pale eye, and then shook his head.

"You're _human!?_" gasped Toby.

"I was once," said Leon. "I found this world when I was a little older than you are, boy. It nearly too my life, getting here on my own, without the assistance of a Fae. But the Fae Court found me and nursed me to health. The food and drink they gave me not only gave me my life back, but elongated my life. I must be the oldest human ever to exist, all thanks to the Court. Then the High King, Alastair, gave me a place in the court as his advisor."

Leon looked around at the ruined place and sighed heavily. "This place used to be Alastair's palace. It's just shambles now, but even all these years after the war, I can't bring myself to abandon it."

"What war?" Toby asked.

Leon have him another, one-eyed glare, but sighed again. "Oh, very well. I've already started the blasted story, so I might as well finish it. I hope you're wearing comfortable breeches, boy, because this one's a dozy.

"The Underground was once dominated by the Fae race. They were like humans in the Aboveground. There were many different kinds of Fae, but the most important of them all was the Leanan Sidhe. They were the Royals among the Fae and the most gifted and lovely of them all. But the Fae had one very serious flaw. They had the greatest difficulty in reproducing. A Fae couple was considered extremely lucky to have three children at best. You could count the number of Fae children born in a year on one hand."

Leon took a pipe out of his pocket, used a nearby candle to light it, and took a long pull on it. "It's no good if you can't have a child to continue your legacy with. Especially if a Fae chooses to die, then a child is very much needed to carry on once they've passed away. So, many Fae found a solution. If they took a human from the Aboveground as their mate, then children could be born much easier. But the child wasn't considered full Fae, but a changeling. Half mortal, half Fae, but with all the qualities of their Fae parents. There's really not much difference between changelings and Fae.

"But some of the Fae considered this a crime amongst nature. Soon, more changelings were being born than pure Fae children. They were afraid they'd die out and no pure Fae would be left. A stupid thought, really, seeing as Fae are immortal. They only die if they choose to, or if they suffer a broken heart, or if they fall by the blade."

"Immortal?" said Toby. "So . . . then what happened to them all?"

Leon stared moodily at his pipe, and then answered. "The changeling numbers mounted too high. The Fae who were against the birth of changelings had had enough. Terrible steps against the changelings were being taken. At first, it started out as a series of unsolved murders. Changelings, Faes with mortal partners, and such were being slaughtered in their sleep. You see, if a Fae weds a mortal, their lives are bound together so that if one dies, the other dies with them. So the mortal becomes immortal, as long as their Fae companion remains immortal.

"Tribes started to blame each other for the murders. Some tribes just didn't get along; as I'm sure you've seen in the Aboveground as well. The fury mounted with each new body that was discovered. Then, one day, the world woke up to find a new family of victims. Only problem was, this family had no mortal blood. The dead family was pure Fae."

Leon tapped some smoldered tobacco from the end of his pipe before continuing. "It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The war started. Tribes were tearing each other apart, each one seeking vengeance against another because of crimes that may not have been committed by them at all. The hatred and fury ran rampant. Everyday there was more fighting, more blood, and more death.

"The Royal Court was in a panic. They didn't know how to make the rage stop. Alastair did everything he could to settle the differences between the tribes. He fought with all his power to make the bloodshed go away. I was with him for most of it. Alastair was a very good man and a very wise king. For the longest time, the Court had been trying to get him to choose a queen, but he refused each woman brought to him. Now, the Court believed that if the royals came at this war with a united king and queen, it may help end the madness.

"But Alastair was wise about this matter as well. When a Fae loves, they love for eternity. They can love once and only once forever. Alastair refused to share his throne with someone who did not have his heart."

"So the king never got married?" Toby asked.

"I didn't say that," said Leon. "I just said he didn't take any of the women who the court offered to him. He didn't love any of them, and not taking them was the right move. He couldn't very well take a queen and then fall in love with another woman, could he? The last thing we needed was strife in the Leanan Sidhe palace what with all the rest of the anguish that was around."

Leon stared out toward the doorway, where the goblins and other creatures were resting and talking together. "Before long, the death toll became too much. The fires started to cool down and we were glad. There was still time to fix things. A few changelings had come to the castle to beg Alastair for protection. He granted it to them, being the good soul he was. That . . . was how he found her.

"Her name was Ilyana. She was one of the last, if not _the_ last changeling in the Underground. She and her family stayed hidden for most of the war but were discovered by enemies. Her parents were murdered, but she got away miraculously. She came to the palace to beg for Alastair's mercy." Leon laughed heartily. "She got a lot more than that. The instant Alastair laid eyes on Ilyana, he fell madly in love with her, and she fell for him in return."

"Really?" said Toby. "They just saw each other and got together just like that?"

"Yup," said Leon. "It doesn't take much for a Fae to fall in love. Once they lay eyes upon the one who was destined to carry their heart, it's practically over. Alastair and Ilyana were married days after she came to the castle.

"The Fae Court was torn right down the middle about the king's choice of his queen. She was a changeling and, therefore, a danger to have in the palace. But she was chosen by the king. She had his heart. They couldn't separate them or else risk the king's heart being broken and then we'd be nowhere. The marriage was kept a secret and, just as the war was nearly finished, Ilyana preformed a miracle."

Leon looked down at Jareth once more before, looking back at Toby.

"She bore him twins."

"Twins?" said Toby.

"Yes," said Leon. "Two healthy, little princes. One of them born only a few moments before the other. It was her mortal blood working for her, I expect. Everyone in the court, even those reluctant to accept Ilyana as queen was utterly delighted. Everyone, that is, except one. A courtier who fought tooth and nail to remove Ilyana from the throne, one who had been known to loath the Aboveground and all things associated with it passionately."

"Let me guess," said Toby. "Reinhardt."

Leon nodded. "I found out, years later, that it had been he who had ordered, may even committed, the murders that started the war in the first place. We'd been so absorbed in stopping the chaos, that none of us noticed one of us had turned Unseelie. He hated me, naturally, but couldn't do anything to me without risking discovery. Within hours of the birth of the two princes did Reinhardt strike one final time. He and a few Unseelie followers attacked the castle. I was knocked unconscious in the chaos. When I awoke, the palace was ablaze and my fellow court members, my friends, Alastair, and poor, dear Ilyana, were all dead. And the newborn princes were gone."

Leon shook his head as the memories came back to him. "I'd heard from a witness to the battle that the princes' nursemaid had taken one of them, the firstborn and heir to the throne most likely, and had tried to escape with him. The second-born prince, the one destined to be nothing but a prince for all his life, was taken by Reinhardt. I suppose he saw him as a kind of sick souvenir of the crimes he committed. He raised the poor boy, and trained him in his evil ways so that one day . . ."

"He could kill me," said a voice.

Everyone in the room jumped. Jareth had awakened and, judging from the look on his face, he'd heard everything. "With me alive, the rest of the Fae race will never acknowledge Kyrie as Fae King."

Leon's eyes darkened. "Kyrie? That is his name?"

"Yes," said Jareth. "We met him on the Dread Isle. He'd said it was his destiny to kill me. Now, I know why. Now, I know everything."

**Ying-Fa: How's that? Did y'all see that coming? Tee hee. Anyway, please leave me your reviews. I adore them, as always.**


	13. Truth

**Ying-Fa: Okay, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's the last of the peaceful moments for awhile. **

Reinhardt stared around the Goblin King's throne room with a mixture of appreciation and admiration. "So this is where your brother spends his days," he said. "It could do without the stench of goblins, but a little elbow grease, a few drapes, a blowtorch or two and it'll be good as gold."

Reinhardt turned to smile at Kyrie. He was sitting in the window that held a view of the entire labyrinth, where Jareth had looked out of many times before. Kyrie didn't reply. He had his fist pressed against his mouth and his free hand was tapping his knife against his boot.

"Oh, don't worry so much," said Reinhardt, soothingly. "You'll kill him before too long. Azzazel just got back with the mortal girl and he's locked her in the tower room. The instant that Jareth learns she's here, he'll come bursting in and then you can fulfill your destiny. You know, I was thinking," Reinhardt inched closer to Kyrie, grinning nastily. "I caught a glimpse of her as Azzazel brought her in. She's actually quite cute, for a mortal, that is. Maybe, to make sure Jareth is really out of his mind when he comes, you could have a little fun with her? What do ya say?"

Kyrie's icy blue eyes snapped over to Reinhardt's black ones, and then turned back to the labyrinth. "That stupid woman," he muttered angrily. "I don't want to touch her. I don't even want to look at her. I don't want to have anything to do with the whore who seduced Jareth."

"Oh, touchy," said Reinhardt. "Have no fear, Kyrie. Once Jareth learns we have his woman, he'll be putty in our hands. You'll murder him and take his place as Fae King. Then I'll squish their little changeling brat and the world will be at peace again."

Kyrie chuckled darkly. "You speak of peace? You, who started the Age of Lovely Blood in the first place?"

"Your fool of a father was being too sloppy," said Reinhardt. "He was nothing but a big softy. He was too sentimental towards the mortals and the changelings that littered our world. He even married one of them! By Hades, was he mad?"

"You possess so much hatred for my filthy changeling mother and yet you spared me?" said Kyrie, grinning. "I wonder what could have driven you to do such a thing."

"I guess I just didn't want the Leanan Sidhe to fall to ruin with the rest of them," said Reinhardt. "Besides, it doesn't matter. You're practically full Fae already, Kyrie. All that is left is for you to become Unseelie."

"And the only way I can become Unseelie," said Kyrie, staring at his knife with determination in his eyes. "Is to kill my own flesh and blood. I must kill Jareth. Then and only then can I finally become full Fae and usurp the throne that is rightfully mine."

"Spoken like a true Fae King," said Reinhardt, happily.

At that moment, Azzazel entered the room. "Master, Your Grace," he said, nodding to each of them. "As per your request, the little turncoat is here."

"Lovely," said Reinhardt. "Well, send the little stinker in, won't you?"

"Yes sire," said Azzazel, and he turned. Kyrie cringed.

"Must you ally yourself with pitiful creatures like that, Reinhardt?" Kyrie asked, frowning deeply.

"It can't be helped," said Reinhardt. "He's the link in Jareth's chain of protection that we can coax into breaking. Ah! There you are . . . um, how do you say it again? Gigglespurt?"

"It's Gagglewart!" snapped the little goblin, marching into the room. "Honestly, you Fae are always the same!"

"My apologies," said Reinhardt, mockingly. "So, what news do you bring me?"

"They're all at the ruined castle, sire," said Gagglewart. "That ugly old thing that lives there is taking care of the Princess and the King."

Reinhardt cringed. "So, Leon's still alive, eh? Old fart must have stayed in that castle ever since it got burned down. I should have killed him when I had the chance. He'll never die as long as he stays in that castle, of that I'm sure. So, now all there is to do now is get Jareth to come back to this little garden maze of his."

"The goblin army won't follow him," said Gagglewart. "They're too scared of the Salamanders you've put all over the place. But the instant Jareth learns that you've got the Queen, he'll come running."

"But you'd better not be the one to tell he we've got her," said Reinhardt. "It'll lead to nasty questions. Is there anybody else you can convert to the cause?"

"No," sighed Gagglewart. "They're too stupid. I was the only one smart enough to realize just what listening to that lousy Fae would mean. We're just his little playthings. I thought if he would just go away then I, the smartest goblin within a thousand miles, would be the King next. But then Jareth goes and gets himself a wife too. And then he brings up a bouncing, baby brat! I'll _never_ get the Goblin throne if this goes on. Am I the only one who seems to think that the Goblin King should be . . . oh, I don't know . . . _a goblin?_"

"Too true, my stinky little fellow," said Reinhardt, jovially. "I agree with you completely. So, once Jareth and his meager family are destroyed, the labyrinth, the Goblin Kingdom, and the throne are all yours."

Gagglewart cackled maliciously. "Oooh! I've been waiting for this day for too long! Wait until my dear Cindersoot, my wife, learns she's gonna be a queen! Ah, the goblins will finally take what is rightfully theirs!"

"Yes, yes," said Reinhardt. "But that won't happen while Jareth is still alive. Now, how on earth are we to spread the word that his mortal girl is here?"

"Oh!" cried Gagglewart. "I know what you can do! Lady Ena! She's betrayed Jareth once before, I'll bet you she'll do it again!"

"Ena, you say?" said Reinhardt. "Now just who might this be?"

"Jareth's foster sister," replied Gagglewart. "She was brought up by the Fae Witch and did whatever the Witch wanted just because she threatened her."

"You mean dear Limstella?" said Reinhardt, his eyes widening. "Really? My goodness I haven't seen her in a millennia. Very lovely woman, really. How's she doing anyway?"

"Dead," said Gagglewart. "Ran amuck of the Death Sprites in the Shadow Temple from what I heard."

"Oh, pity that," said Reinhardt, looking crestfallen. "She was good company. Still, this Ena, can you get her to come here on her own?"

"Not by myself," said Gagglewart. "If I tell her anything, she'll just go and tell Jareth."

"Perhaps," said Kyrie, suddenly. "I can be of some assistance."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Jareth sat up and turned to look at Ena. "Where's my daughter?" he asked. "Where's Rin?"

"She's here, Jareth," Ena replied. "She's asleep."

"And her mother?"

Ena hesitated. "We don't know."

Jareth sighed, reached up, and rubbed his eyes. "Bring her to me," he said after a moment.

Ena turned and left the room. Leon turned and looked over at Toby. "You shouldn't be here, boy," he said. "The moment she returns, that woman will send you back to the Aboveground."

"I'm not going back," said Toby. "Like I said before, I'm involved in this. You can't just throw me out whenever you feel like it."

"You'll do as you're told boy," snapped Leon. "If Reinhardt finds you he'll kill you and he'll enjoy doing it. Don't bother being a brat about it and wasting everyone's time . . ."

"The boy stays."

Both Leon and Toby turned in time to see Jareth sit up and glare at Leon. "The boy stays in the Underground," he said.

"Wh-? Listen, Jareth," said Leon. "This is no place for an eleven year old boy to be . . ."

"I'm not . . ." Toby began, but Jareth cut him off.

"He's thirteen, unless I'm much mistaken," said Jareth, coolly. "That's more than old enough to decide what he wants."

Toby stared at Jareth in amazement. "How . . . how did you know how old I was?" he asked.

"Oh, I know a lot more than that," said Jareth, grinning. "I know your name is Toby Robert Williams, your parents names are Robert and Irene, and you once had a sister who vanished very suddenly when she was supposed to be going off to school. Have I missed anything?"

"How did you know that stuff?" Toby asked, sharply.

Jareth eyed Toby for a second, and then smirked. "Just how do you think you came here, Toby?"

"I . . . I don't know," said Toby, puzzled. "I just kinda . . . um . . . fell out of my parent's bedroom window and then . . . I was here. Hey! Are you trying to say that _you_ brought me here!?"

"I might have," said Jareth, now looking Toby up and down as if looking for something. "Very indirectly, but it's possible."

"What are you talking about?" Toby asked.

"That sister I mentioned a second ago," said Jareth. "She didn't, by any chance, leave you a ring, did she?"

Toby hesitated. He still had his sister's ring around his neck at that very moment. But did he trust this guy enough to show it to him? Still, those mismatched eyes that his daughter had inherited where hard to say no to. Reluctantly, Toby reached back, unclasped the chain around his neck, then gave the ring to Jareth. He examined it for a moment, then smiled at Toby.

"This ring is what brought you here, Toby," Jareth explained.

"How?" said Toby. "I mean . . . it's just a normal ring, right?"

"No," said Jareth, smiling again. "Very wrong, actually. This ring is a small part of the labyrinth. The labyrinth is where I live and where the Goblin City and the castle beyond it can be found. The labyrinth and all within it is my creation and, thus, is infused with my power. This ring had just enough power to bring the one who owned it from one world to another only once."

Toby felt stunned. "But, that can't be," he said. "My sister gave me that ring. Sh-she gave it to me just before she left for Paris and . . ."

"Your sister didn't go to Paris, though, did she?" said Jareth.

"D-do you know . . . what happened . . . to my sister?" said Toby, looking stunned.

Jareth stared at Toby for a moment, sighed, and then nodded. "Yes, I do. She came here, to the Underground, permanently."

"Y-you don't mean . . . you c-can't mean . . . not _my_ sister," said Toby, now feeling dazed.

"Yes, _your_ sister," said Jareth. "Sarah Williams, twenty-one years old when she disappeared, you and she share the same father but she has a different mother. Her mother left her when she was still young, and her father remarried to your mother and then bore you."

"No wait," said Toby. "There's gotta be a mistake!"

"There is no mistake," said a voice from behind Toby. Ena was back and she had Rin with her. Rin was clearly still half asleep, but the instant her eyes landed upon her father she woke up at once.

"Daddy!" she gasped, wriggling around in Ena's arms, reaching for Jareth. "Daddy! Daddy!"

Jareth reached out and took his daughter in his arms and held her tightly to him. Rin began to cry, apparently from happiness, her small hands clutching at her father's shirt as if she'd never let go.

"Daddy!" she wailed. "Daddy!"

"Rin," Jareth murmured, burying his face in her long hair. "Oh, my sweet Rin. I'm so glad you're alright. My darling girl . . ."

Toby felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to see Ena nodding towards the doorway and he followed her out of the room, giving Jareth some time alone with his daughter.

"What . . . what he said back there," said Toby, shakily. "It's . . . is it . . . true? My sister's . . . not really here, is she?"

Ena nodded solemnly. "Yes, she is," said Ena.

"But . . . but how!?" Toby cried. "How can she be here? She's never been here before, has she?"

"Yes, she has," said Ena. "Thirteen years ago, she came to this world for the first time. Ten years ago, she visited a second time. Then, almost eight years ago, she came here to stay."

"It . . . it can't be," mumbled Toby.

"Why can't it be?" asked Ena, a little startled.

"Why didn't she say anything!?" Toby demanded. "Why didn't she tell us where she was going? Why didn't she contact us after she left? We all thought . . . I thought . . ." Toby buried his face in his hands. "We looked everywhere. We looked everywhere for her! We looked and looked! Dad . . . he was so beat up for the longest time. He's still sad about it even now! Mom . . . was in shock. She never thought this would happen to someone in her family. Her mom, Linda, she offered a reward to anyone who could bring her back. She cried a lot too. I . . . I thought . . . people kept saying . . . all these stupid rumors . . . I thought . . . she'd . . . abandoned us . . . I thought she'd abandoned . . . me."

Toby didn't trust himself to talk anymore. He pressed his hands harder to his face so Ena wouldn't see him start to tear up. He'd done so much crying in the past that now he just hated doing it at all. He didn't want to shed anymore tears. He didn't want to cry anymore. But then a pair of warm, gentle arms wrapped themselves around him.

"Please, don't be sad," said Ena's soft voice in his ear. "If she knew . . . if your sister knew you were in such despair . . . she'd never forgive herself. She's missed your family so terribly. But, most of all, she's missed you. Oh she missed you so dreadfully. She misses you still."

"Do . . . do you know where she is?" Toby asked, trying to rub his eyes dry without her noticing.

Ena hesitated for a moment. "No, I don't know where she is at the moment. But I swear to you that we'll find her. Jareth will make sure that she is found, you have my assurance of that."

"What'll he do?" Toby asked, looking up at her. "What's he got to do with my sister."

"I'm afraid that is for Jareth to explain," said Ena, placing her hand on Toby's cheek. "Don't think ill of your sister. The time is nearing when you'll be able to see her again. Please, continue to smile and be brave. You've done so much for us, now is not the time to despair."

Toby looked up at Ena. Man, she was just so pretty when she smiled like that. Toby feeling very stupid for allowing himself to cry again, grinned and rubbed his face clear of any sadness that had remained.

"Much better," said Ena. "Now, I need to check on the goblins. Stay here with Jareth and Master Leon. I'll be back soon."

Toby nodded and Ena touched his arm affectionately before turning and walking away.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Ena walked through the castle, her mind still on Toby. _He really is a very dear boy_, she thought. _Oh, Lady Sarah will be so happy to see him again. I wonder, once this is over, will he return to his own world, or will he want to stay here with his sister? Hm, well . . . I would . . . very much like it . . . if he chose to stay . . ._

"Miss Ena!"

Ena turned around. A goblin came running over to her, looking worried.

"Um, aren't you the one they call . . . what is it? Gogglesworth?"

"It's _Gagglewart_," groaned Gagglewart. "Please, something most serious has happened, my lady. I've found the Queen, my lady. She's most desperately injured! She needs the aid of your yarrow plants at once!"

"Lady Sarah! Injured!" gasped Ena. "Oh, no! This is terribly serious! I must tell Jareth and Lord Toby at once!"

"My lady please," cried Gagglewart. "There's no time! No time at all! You must go to her now! I fear her life is in danger!"

"Oh no!" cried Ena. "Oh no, no! Not dear Sarah. Alright, please, show me the way to her, I implore you!"

Gagglewart and Ena took off in the night. They were both so quick that neither of them noticed three faces peering through a broken wall.

"Did you hear that, my brethren!" cried Sir Didymus. "The Queen's life is in peril!"

"Oh no!" gasped Hoggle. "It . . . it can't happen! Quick, let's follow 'em. Sarah'll be happy to see us, that's for sure!"

"Yeah," growled Ludo. "Ludo go Sawah friend!"

Quickly and quietly, the three friends took off after Ena and Gagglewart.

**Ying-Fa: A word of warning. I've been generous up until now, but I can be cruel (ha ha). I hope you're ready 'cause things are gonna get ugly. If I'm way too nice, two people will die. If I'm only kinda nice, three will die. If I'm mean, four will die. If I'm just down right evil, more will die. What will happen? . . . I don't know yet. Stay tuned!**


	14. Gift of the Leanan Sidhe

**Ying-Fa: Thank you very much for your patience and the reviews you send me. I only hope that you will still like me after the display of evilness near the end of this chapter. Thank you again and enjoy.**

"_It's a sin with no name,_

_Like a tiger to tame,_

_And my senses proclaim,_

_It's a dangerous game."_

-from "Dangerous Game" from _Jekyll and Hyde._

Ena followed Gagglewart further and further into the darkness, away from the ruined castle. It was hard to follow him. She was faster than Gagglewart, but he was the one who knew the way.

"How much further?" Ena gasped. "Is she far away?"

"Not far now, miss," said Gagglewart. "She's not much further now."

_Oh, dear Sarah,_ Ena thought desperately. _Please be alright. Please . . ._

Very suddenly, Gagglewart stopped. Ena almost walked right past him in her haste to find Sarah. "Sarah!" Ena called out into the darkness. "Lady Sarah! Where are you?"

"Oh don't worry," said Gagglewart, in a low, menacing voice. "You'll be where she is before too long."

"What? I don't understand . . ." Ena began, but all of a sudden, she felt the flow of magic in the air. A heavy scent filled the air and she recognized it at once. It was the scent of poppies and peach blossoms. The combination of the two smells seemed to be dragging her down into a deep, sedated state. She couldn't stand anymore. Her knees gave way and she fell to ground.

"Everything's . . . dancing . . ." she murmured. Then she saw them. Several sparkling crystals were spinning in the air and seemed to be giving off the scent. They weren't spheres like Jareth's, but they were pointed and chiseled to perfection. They were a form of magic. Someone was casting spells upon her. Ena didn't last much longer. Within a few moments, she fell to the ground in a deep sleep.

The crystal spells spun all around Ena and slowly surrounded her. They inched closer and closer until they came upon her. In an instant, Ena was gone and only one, lone crystal shard drifted lazily toward the direction of the labyrinth.

"Hey!" squawked Gagglewart. "Wait for me!" and he hurried off after it. But, as the little goblin chased the crystal, he never noticed the three, horrified creatures not far behind him.

"Did . . . did I just see what I thought I just saw!" whispered Hoggle.

"Egad!" cried Didymus. "Tis the same spell that his Majesty used upon the fair maiden when she ran the labyrinth for the first time."

"Ena," growled Ludo, reaching in the direction that the crystal was headed. "Come back!"

"That vile goblin Gagglewart is a traitor!" roared Didymus. "He has lured the poor lady into a trap!"

"We gotta go back and tell Jareth what happened!" said Hoggle, in dismay.

"Right you are, Sir Hoggle," said Didymus. "Back to the castle! Hurry now!"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Well done, Kyrie," said Reinhardt, watching as Kyrie worked his magic on Ena. "This meager little girl will be the key to our success. Use the gift of the Leanan Sidhe that you were born with. Charm the little girl, woo her, and make her heart surrender completely to you. Then, once she is yours, she won't be able to live without you. At your request alone, she will betray Jareth and lure him to us. We will kill him, his mortal love, their changeling brat, and have some fun with that heroic little fool that's been tagging along with them.

"And then your destiny shall be fulfilled."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

_Ena looked around at the room she was in. It was dark and frightening. The size of a chapel with rows of dark pillars and leading to a large, stone hearth in which a roaring fire was blazing. She was dressed in a black gown that she'd never seen before. It was made of satin with a long slit in the skirt, revealing on of her legs. The front came up and tied around her neck, leaving her entire back exposed, but revealing nothing._

_She stared around the darkness she saw movement. There were figures on the floor. They each had a number of oddly shaped cups in their hands, from one to ten. Ena knew at once what they must be. They were the Suit of Cups. Tarot cards that specified in the foretelling of relationships, emotions, and love._

_Then, a voice rang out through the darkness:_

**"Lips are turning blue**

**A kiss that can't renew**

**I only dream of you**

**My beautiful"**

_Ena turned towards the voice. Standing at the far end of the large chapel stood a man. He looked . . . something like Jareth. He was tall and beautiful, with golden hair and eyes the color of ice. Only, his hair wasn't wild like Jareth's. It was take and slicked back across his head. His eyes were not mismatched and he looked softer, smoother than Jareth. She knew at once who he must be. The brother that Leon had spoken of._

_Kyrie._

**"Tiptoe to your room**

**A starlight in the gloom**

**I only dream of you**

**And you never knew"**

_Kyrie moved steadily closer to her as he sang. He wore a loose, white shirt that was open to his navel, revealing his smooth, muscled chest. Black pants hung low on his hips and his hands and feet were bare. His voice was high and clear where Jareth's was low and velvety. Ena couldn't help but compare them as opposites._

_The moon and the sun. The dark and the light. The night and the day. The cold and the heat. The water and the fire._

**"Sing for absolution**

**I will be singing**

**And falling from your grace"**

_Ena could do nothing more than stare as Kyrie drew nearer and nearer to her. He was just so beautiful and he was looking at her with smoldering eyes. Nobody in all her life had looked at her like that. Ever. She couldn't help herself. She drew nearer and nearer to him. His voice was drowning out the possibility of any thought. Kyrie smiled a wicked smile as he continued to serenade her with his dark, haunting song._

**"Lips are turning blue**

**A kiss that can't renew**

**I only dream of you**

**My beautiful"**

_Kyrie finally reached her and took her into his arms and she took a moment to bask in their warmth. Ena had never felt so thrilled by the touch of another. His silky voice was spinning beautiful words into her ear as they began to move together in a quick and dizzying dance. He spun her wildly and carried her gracefully around the hall while the Suit of Cups watched them._

**"Sing for absolution**

**I will be singing**

**And falling from your grace"**

_Ena was helplessly lost in the sensations that he was invoking in her. She couldn't escape. She was dizzy and lost, confused and enthralled. She was losing herself in the sway of the dance, the feel of his hands holding her steady, and his voice ringing in her ears._

**"Our wrongs**

**Remain unrectified**

**And our souls**

**Won't be exhumed"**

_Spinning. Dancing. Kyrie's song. Dizzy. Confused. Lost. Black . . ._

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Ena was awoken when she felt a pair of lips press against her forehead. She opened her eyes slowly and took in her surroundings. She was in the castle beyond the Goblin City. This room was a guest room that she sometimes occupied when she came here to visit Jareth and Sarah. She was lying down on the bed and, sitting next to her and smiling softly, was Kyrie.

"I was afraid that you wouldn't awaken," he said, quietly. "I'm pleased to see that you have."

"What . . . am I doing here?" Ena asked her head still very foggy and confused.

Kyrie's smile widened. "I couldn't resist the chance to see meet you in person. We have much in common, Ena, don't we?"

"We do?"

"Certainly. Both orphans, both raised by other, very powerful Fae, and the both of us have had the same thorn in our side for a long time."

"I . . . I don't understand," said Ena.

Kyrie laughed. "I'm talking about Jareth, of course," he said. "His very existence is nothing but trouble to the both of us."

"No," protested Ena. "No, he isn't! You mustn't think of him like that. Please . . . Lord Kyrie, he's your . . ."

"My brother, yes," said Kyrie, sliding off the bed and beginning to pace around the room. "He was born only a few moments before I was, and thus cursed me to the worst fate anyone could possibly possess."

"What do you mean?"

"I am the twin born second," said Kyrie, his icy eyes darkening. "I missed out on eternity by mere chance. Now I am cursed. Twins are always cursed in the Underground, let alone when they are born into the Royal Family."

"But the occurrence is so rare," protested Ena. "How can you call it a curse? It is a blessing!"

"It sure seems that way, doesn't it?" said Kyrie. "My filthy, changeling mother was considered a miracle worker by bearing the both of us. Did she, or anyone else, have any idea what they'd done to me?"

"What was done to you?" Ena asked, pleadingly.

"Death," whispered Kyrie. "He follows me around, waiting for me to fulfill my destiny. Death is a part of my destiny, just as it is a part of Jareth's. Life and death decide our fate."

"I still don't understand you," said Ena.

Kyrie smiled a completely mirthless smile. "I am forced to choose one of two destinies," he hissed. "Either I can love my brother despite the fact that he has all and I have none, and die in his place. Or I can hate my brother, murder him, and take all that is his as my own."

Ena gasped. Kyrie looked over at her. "Is it so horrible to you?" he asked. "To take the life of another?"

"Murder is unforgivable in the Underground," Ena cried.

"Either he dies or I do," said Kyrie. "We both can't survive! Is that so terrible of me, Ena? Are you repulsed by my fate? This was forced upon me, my dear, I didn't choose this! Who would ever choose such a thing!? Don't you see, I have no choice. Kill or die, those are my choices."

"That can't be the only way," said Ena, getting off the bed and going over to him. "Please, it doesn't have to be this way. There is still time. Jareth will forgive you, I know he will. You are all that is left of the family he has never known. And he is all that is left for you."

Kyrie stared at Ena. "Let's say he does forgive me and we do accept each other as brothers. If that happens, I will grow to love him and then I'll have to die for him. Look at me, Ena. Do I deserve to die?"

Ena looked deep into Kyrie's blue eyes and felt her heart go out to him. "There is so much sadness in you," she said. "No, you do not deserve death."

"Then help me," said Kyrie. "Help me kill Jareth and take what is mine. Every moment he lives, the more he torments both of us."

"He has never tormented me," said Ena, aghast.

Kyrie smiled and shook his head. "There is no need to lie, my dear. You watch, day by day, as he basks in happiness you can never have. He escaped from the Fae Witch, leaving you behind with her. You met him again, when he was grown, and were charmed by him. But your affections would never be returned. He chose a life that can easily go on as if you never existed. He chose a mortal woman over you. He bore a changeling with her. If that isn't torment, I don't know what is. Search yourself, Ena. Deep down, wouldn't you love nothing more . . . then to end your suffering?"

Ena listened as Kyrie spoke every dark feeling that she ever possessed for Jareth. She looked down at her feet, then back up at him. He smiled at her, then drew her to him in a warm embrace.

"Help me, Ena," he whispered. "Let us end our suffering. Jareth is nothing but pain. Let us put an end to that pain. Betray him . . . for me."

Ena felt tears form in her eyes, then buried her face into his chest. "I . . . cannot."

Kyrie stiffened.

"I admit that I have had . . . dark feelings about Jareth," said Ena. "But those feelings cannot overpower my love for him. When I see him with Lady Sarah, I am just so . . . so happy for him. His happiness makes me happy. I just love them both so much. Please . . . Lord Kyrie . . . come with us. Join us. Join our family. Jareth will forgive you. Lady Sarah will forgive you. There's still time. Come to the light. Come where we are."

Kyrie stood very still for a moment, then took one hand off of her, but still held her to him with one arm. "I want to live," he murmured. "I don't want to die, Ena."

Ena sighed into him, but before she could speak, she felt something happen. She was in pain. There was a sharp pain in her back. What was happening?

"I don't want to die," he repeated.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. She felt an odd tug at her back. She felt dizzy, so very dizzy. Something was wrong. Why was her back all wet? Ena looked down at Kyrie's arm. The arm that wasn't holding her too him was dangling at his side. There was something in his hand.

A knife. A knife covered in blood.

"And I can't let you stand in the way of my survival," Kyrie's voice echoed in her head.

She was so weak. She couldn't control herself. She was losing control over her body. Her back hurt. There was a knife in his hands. Everything was becoming so dark.

Ena barely managed to take one last look into Kyrie's eyes before she slid out of his arms and crumpled to the floor.


	15. Preparations

**Ying-Fa: I'm so sorry readers. But . . . it's true. Please continue to read my story despite the evil thing that I've done.**

Kyrie looked down at the dying woman. She's fallen elegantly, one arm thrown over her head. She resembled a broken doll or a fallen bird. As he watched, a dark red circle began to grow around her back, like a pair of crimson wings. He'd never seen anything so entrancing. It was an odd thing, to watch as someone died. Is this what his brother would look like when he died? When he killed Jareth would he fall as this girl did? Would the light fade from his eyes too?

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Kyrie was shaken from his reverie by the sound of a woman screaming. He turned in time to see another woman sprint into the room. A pale woman with long black hair that flew behind her as she hurried over to the dead girl on the floor.

"Ena! Ena!" cried the newcomer. Kyrie knew at once who this other woman must be. The mortal girl. Jareth's mortal girl. Jareth's filthy bride who'd given birth to the changeling brat. She'd hurried over to the dying Ena and took her into her arms. She was patting the girl's face, trying to rouse her. But it was no use. He'd cut right into her spinal cord. He'd been going for the kill and had been successful.

"Ena! No! No, Ena!" the woman screamed desperately. Kyrie felt a twinge of annoyance. Who was she to cry for a dead Fae? Did she think that simply because she'd somehow managed to seduce his brother that it made her one of them?

Kyrie heard more footsteps and the door bang open again. This time it was Reinhardt's voice that came into the room.

"You are one shenanigan shy of getting . . ." he began, presumably yelling at the mortal girl, when he stopped suddenly. "What the . . .? Aw, Kyrie, you weren't supposed to kill her! What happened to the plan?"

"The girl refused to cooperate," said Kyrie, tossing the knife he'd used to kill Ena to the ground. "She seemed to think that my death was a better option to betraying Jareth. I had to kill her."

"You!"

The mortal girl jumped up and threw herself at him. Kyrie barely managed to conjure a pointed crystal and throw it at her before she reached him. The crystal splintered and formed chains that bound the girl in place. She lost her balance and fell to the floor. She fought against them violently, screaming and yelling.

"YOU KILLED HER!" she shrieked. "YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED ENA!"

It was then, as Kyrie's eyes met the girl's green ones that he felt it. There was an odd tug on his senses, as if something inside him was drawn to her. It was like something in him recognized her. He'd felt almost the exact thing when he'd first laid eyes upon Jareth, but at that time, the sensation was more of a pull rather than a tug. Perhaps it was just the fact that she and Jareth were bound together . . ."

"Silence, you savage!" snapped Reinhardt. He reached into his deck, pulled out the Temperance card and threw it at the girl. The card slapped onto her mouth, silencing her screams of grief and fury. Before long, she stopped struggling and merely hung in her chains, her eyes streaming with tears.

"Ah, golden silence," said Reinhardt. "Now, what to do?"

"We can still use her," said Kyrie, looking down at the corpse. "Drop the body near the castle, where Jareth can find her."

"Oh, good idea, Kyrie," said Reinhardt, looking impressed. "I'll leave a nice note for him, too. Yes, I'll tell him if he didn't want his wife to share the same fate, he'll come back over to the castle."

Sarah's head snapped over to Reinhardt, looking frightened, but Kyrie spoke up at once.

"No," he hissed. "If she dies, Jareth dies. And Jareth will die by my hand and my hand only! He's not to die any other way. I want to be there when he breathes his last! I want to feel as his life leaves his body. I want to know when, and exactly when, my destiny is fulfilled!"

Reinhardt looked slightly taken aback, but he recovered quickly with a slick smile. "I'm glad you're so passionate about this, my boy. Don't worry, Kyrie, I'm just going to plant the idea into Jareth's head that we'll kill his blushing bride here. She'll die when he does, and he'll die when you kill him yourself."

"Good," said Kyrie. He glanced over at the woman, who was now glaring at him with all the hatred that she could muster. It was a look that could kill and Kyrie took a moment to scoff Ena's words that this girl would forgive him.

"Get her out of here, Reinhardt. I'm sick of looking at her."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"WHAT?!?!"

"We crave your pardon, Your Majesty," said Didymus, bowing low to Jareth. "It seemed as if he was taking her to the labyrinth."

"And what of this traitor?" hissed Jareth. "Don't tell me you simply turned around and let the little bit of filth wander off!"

"He went and took off into the shadows!" said Hoggle, defensively. "We didn't know what to do, honest! That's why we came back and told you."

"You could, at least, have had the sense to split up," snapped Jareth. He was still holding Rin, who was looking up at her furious father and making soft noises of concern. "At least one of you could have followed Grindlewald while the rest of you came to inform me!"

Toby watched the scene, feeling nervous. After he'd mustered up the courage to ask Jareth more questions about his sister, he'd been disrupted by Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus sprinting past him and delivering the news that Ena had been kidnapped. How could this have happened? He'd been talking to her not so long ago.

Jareth continued to berate the trio, who were starting to cower. It was only when Rin reached up and patted Jareth's shoulder in a soothing gesture did he stop. He took a second to gaze at his daughter, then he turned to Leon, who was also listening.

"It's time," he said, curtly. "I need to head back to the labyrinth. If that is where this Reinhardt is, then I'll go and face him, which seems to be what he wants. But I can't afford to take Rin with me." He looked back at his child, frowning slightly. "I'm not going to put her life in any more danger. Can I trust her with you?"

Leon chuckled. "Anything for Alastiar and Illyana's granddaughter," he said.

"I'll stay with her too," Toby offered, but Jareth cut him off.

"No, you're coming with me," he said, in a tone that clearly settled the matter.

"R-really?" said Toby, startled. "I can come too?"

"Yes, you can," said Jareth, with the shadow of a smirk. "Round up the goblins, Toby. We're leaving in five minutes."

"Seriously!?" Toby asked, feeling the thrill of adventure start to sink in. "O-okay. Sure, I'll go get them."

As Toby left the room, Jareth knelt down and sat Rin onto the bed. "Listen, my sweet," he said, softly. "I'm going to have to leave you again. It won't be for very long, I swear. I just need to find where your mother is."

Rin stared at him, looking almost frightened. "Daddy," she insisted, reaching for him.

"Father has to go now, my sweet," Jareth insisted, leaning forward and kissing her forehead. "Be good for Leon, alright?"

Rin hung her head sadly. Jareth turned around and pointed to Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus.

"You three will stay here and keep guard over Rin," he told them.

"What!?" squawked Hoggle. "Yer letting the kid come but leaving us behind!?"

"Yes, I am," snapped Jareth, looking the dwarf square in the eye. "And I'm warning you, if you dare abandon her, the Bog of Eternal Stench will look like a vacation spot compared to where I'll put you!"

Hoggle shrinked back away from him. Didymus whipped off his hat and bowed low to Jareth. "Never you fear, Your Majesty. We shall guard the Princess with our dying breaths, I assure you."

"Good," said Jareth, glaring at Hoggle one last time. He turned and left the room, but not before hearing Hoggle mutter, "He's gotten scarier since he's become a father."

Toby had already alerted the rest of the Goblin corps. As Jareth showed up, they all bowed and one captain asked, "Your Highness, what shall we do? We cannot enter the labyrinth whilst it is crawling with Salamanders."

"You won't be going in," said Jareth. "You are to break into groups of four and station yourselves around the outer walls of the labyrinth. I want a group stationed in each direction and you'll wait there until I send further instructions."

"Yes, Your Majesty," said the goblins, and they began to march out of the castle and out toward the rest of the Underground.

"What are you planning to do?" Toby asked.

"Oh, I'm just giving them something to do," said Jareth, dismissively. "Make themselves feel useful. You and I are going inside the labyrinth and putting an end to this ridiculous plot."

"R-really?" asked Toby. "But . . . but I don't know the first thing about . . . I can't . . . I don't know how to . . ."

"Oh, you won't be fighting," said Jareth, with a slight laugh. "It'll be your job to enter the castle, find my wife, and take her to safety. I promise that once you do that, dear boy, you will know anything and everything you have ever wanted to know about your sister."

Toby's heart panged at the idea of seeing his sister again. But there wasn't time to dwell on that. "But Reinhardt already knows me. How am I supposed to get by him, or that Kyrie, or anything else in there?"

Jareth waved his hand and a crystal appeared in there. "With this," he said, tossing the crystal to him. Toby made to grab the crystal, but it never met his hands. Instead, what looked like a simple, traveler's cloak fell into his hands.

"Wear that," Jareth explained. "It is infused with my magic, just like the rest of the castle. If you cover yourself with it, you'll blend into your surroundings and be able to search the castle stealthily."

"So it's kinda like the Lord of the Rings," said Toby, fastening the cloak around his neck.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Never mind."

"Also," said Jareth, summoning up another crystal. "Though I hope you needn't have to use it," he rolled the crystal over in his hand and it turned into short sword, which he handed to Toby. Toby took hold of the weapon, feeling dazed and somewhat anxious. Was he really gonna do this?

"Alright," said Jareth. "Time to go, Toby."

**Ying-Fa: Okay, there you are. Sorry the update took forever. The Holidays were nuts! Please review and tell me all the thoughts in your head.**


	16. Storm's abrewin'

**Ying-Fa: Thank you everyone who reviewed and has stuck with me. Things are about to heat up and I look forward to your reactions. Oh, the song I used a couple of chapters ago was "Sing for Absolution" by Muse. And no, it is not mine, it belongs to Muse. Just as Labyrinth belongs to Jim Henson. Lucky shmucks.**

Jareth took hold of Toby's arm and held onto him tightly. "I'd be ready if I were you," he said, rather wickedly and another crystal appeared in his hand. At once, Toby felt the strange sensation that he was moving very fast through a whirlwind yet standing completely still. He was flying, very fast, through wind and color. A great rushing sound roared in his ears so that his eardrums ached.

Almost at once, it stopped. Once he felt solid ground under his feet again, Toby collapsed onto it, feeling dazed and confused. As soon as he could see clearly again, Toby lifted his head and saw the greatest sight he'd ever seen. An enormous mass of twisted passages, winding trees, walls and, at the very center, a wide and beautiful castle.

"Welcome Toby," said Jareth, grinning. "To the labyrinth."

Toby stared at it, amazed. "Whoa," he sighed. "It's huge."

"It is quiet spacious, isn't it?" said Jareth, fondly. "It took me the best part of one hundred years to create it. Still, it didn't stop my dear wife from calling it a 'piece of cake'."

"Did you say _a hundred . . .?_"

"Well then," said Jareth, pulling Toby to his feet. "Let's get a move on, shall we? The longer we dawdle, the longer Reinhardt and Kyrie manage to contaminate it. Not to mention the fact that I left Rin in the care of that useless dwarf."

They headed down the hill and down to the outer wall of the labyrinth. Toby looked up and down it, but didn't see a door or gate of any kind.

"How do we get . . ." Toby began, but as he spoke, Jareth stretched out his hand and stroked the wall lightly with his fingers. At once the brick wall turned to smooth wood and split down the middle to form a door, which opened at once for them, creaking loudly. ". . . in," he finished, somewhat lamely.

"This place is filled to the brim with my magic, Toby," Jareth reminded him. "It'll listen to me."

"What about Kyrie?" said Toby, jogging slightly to keep up with Jareth as they entered the Endless Corridor. "Couldn't he use it too? I mean, he is your . . ."

"Yes, he is," said Jareth, darkly. "But he is not me. Magic isn't something that can be confused or tricked. It is unique to the one who uses it. My magic knows me, Kyrie's magic knows him, that is all there is to it."

Toby lowered his eyes to the ground. "Man, this is all way too weird," he said. "If I knew that this is what I'd be looking forward to on the one night I got the house to myself. And the thing is, I haven't even been in my house for most of it!" he sighed. "It's been hours. Mom and Dad are probably home now. I'm sure mom's already called in the National Guard and the Marines to figure out why I'm not home. You'd think she . . ." Toby looked up, only to find himself alone. "Hey!" he cried out. "Jareth! Jareth, where are . . .?"

Before Toby could finish, Jareth's arm reached out from one of the walls and yanked him into the nearest wall.

"Please pay more attention," said Jareth, looking down at Toby disapprovingly.

"Huh?" said Toby, still a little stunned by what had just happened. "I . . . I don't get it. How are you supposed to get through this thing if you have doors disguised as walls and walls that are actually openings?"

"Because it's the point," said Jareth. "Now, try to keep up."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Reinhardt pulled a card out three cards from his deck. The Emperor. The Fool. The Hanged Man.

"He's here," said Reinhardt, over to Kyrie, who was sitting in Jareth's throne. "He brought the little fool with him! How wonderful, I've been so bored. They're about to find our little, pink-haired present we left for him to find."

Kyrie didn't say anything. He was frowning down at the ground, toying with the knife he'd used to kill Ena. "He's here? You're sure?"

"Sure I'm sure," said Reinhardt. "I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't sure." He drew another card. Wheel of Fortune. "We're going to be in for a lot of confusion and chaos once he reaches the castle. No doubt he'll be peeved about little Ena."

"What of the changeling, Master?" asked Azzazel, who was sitting in the window.

Reinhardt pulled out another card. The Hierophant. "He left her with that flee-bitten old rag, Leon in the ruins of the old castle. Well, I'd better go pick her up. Kyrie, wait for my return. If Jareth shows up before I do, then don't bother waiting for me. Off him! Azzazel, attend to anything he might need."

"Reinhardt," said Kyrie, looking up. "Can I ask you something?"

"Certainly, my boy," said Reinhardt, looking expectantly at Kyrie.

Kyrie hesitated. "Earlier . . . when . . . that whore was with us, I felt . . . something strange. A tug on my soul. Something in me recognized her. Is it simply that she is bound to Jareth that I feel such a thing?"

Reinhardt thought for a moment. "Possibly," he said. "I've never dealt with twins before, Kyrie, so it is hard to understand the connection you have with your brother. Still, better safe then sorry. Azzazel, I want you to go up to the tower and take a good look at that mortal girl. Make sure nothing fishy is going on."

"Yes, Master," said the daemon, and he vanished like a shadow.

"I'll be back later with that changeling," said Reinhardt, turning to leave.

"Why bother?" said Kyrie. "Just kill the thing while you're there."

"Where would the fun in that be?" said Reinhardt. "I'm going to catch her and make her squeal like a piglet before the eyes of her mommy and daddy (assuming they're still alive when I get back) and the rest of the little beasts that live here. It's not just doing the deed, Kyrie, it's making a statement."

Kyrie smiled, wickedly. "Of course, Reinhardt. Of course."

Reinhardt left the throne room, but then stopped and examined his deck once more. He wouldn't confess it to him, but he was worried about Kyrie's odds against Jareth. He remembered the card that had represented Jareth's future when he'd performed a reading for him. It had been Strength. A card representing power and the all-conquering power of love. That one wasn't exactly his favorite and if it was the card that represented Jareth's future . . .

He shook his head and pulled out several more cards.

The Emperor. The Magician. Death.

This meant that the up-coming duel between Jareth and Kyrie would end in death. This didn't surprise him. The only question was which of the two would come out of it victorious? He drew three more cards.

The Empress. The Lovers. The Sun.

This one he didn't exactly know. The Empress seemed to represent Jareth's mortal queen and she, of course, is also Jareth's lover. But why would he draw the Sun card? It represented personal growth and upcoming gladness. Feeling uneasy. He drew three more cards.

The Devil. The Fool. The Tower.

Again lost of the meaning, he drew one final card.

Death.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sarah sat up and dried her eyes of the last remains of the tears she'd shed for Ena's death. It was hard to believe that she was really gone, but she'd seen it with her own eyes. That Kyrie had murdered Ena. Why? What had she done?

Furious, upset, and overwhelmed with worry for Jareth and Rin, Sarah looked down at the glass flower she was holding. As Ena had died, she'd managed to create this final flower, her last spell. It was a rose with glistening black petals and the stem was dotted with thorns and the end of the stem was unusually sharp as well.

Sarah had no idea what this spell did or why it didn't disappear when the one who created it died. She'd managed to keep it hidden from Reinhardt and Kyrie and that demonic beast that worked with them. This was all she had left of Ena and she would keep it safe, protected from her killers.

Sarah gazed miserably around the room. Reinhardt had locked her in the room that she shared with Jareth. It made her miserable and depressed to be in here and not knowing where her husband and child were. What she wouldn't give to see them right now, when she was grieving over Ena. Jareth would be furious if he figured out what happened to her. He'd destroy those freaks and come back to her, make her feel better.

She sighed and shook her head as she thought over the terrible mess she was in. She was trapped in her own castle, Ena was dead, those freaks were planning to kill her family, her husband and child were missing, her friends were missing, and the labyrinth was filled with salamanders.

And on top of _everything else . . ._

Sarah got off the bed and started wondering around the room, searching for something. She wouldn't let those guys keep her prisoner in her own castle. She wouldn't just sit around and weep like a little wilting flower while her family fought for their lives. She would fight too. She would be strong too. She needed to be. She had to be strong for Jareth. For Rin. And for . . .

Sarah found what she was looking for. Hidden behind a wardrobe was a brick in the wall that shimmered slightly with traces of magic. Sarah pressed against the brick and a small, hidden corridor opened up. It was rather small, but she could still fit inside. She'd get out of the castle and sneak out of the labyrinth. She'd ran it once before and she felt sorry for any slimy Salamander that dared cross her path now.

Rubbing her stomach and feeling nervous about what she was about to do, Sarah slid into the passage and out of sight.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

The passage through the labyrinth was a steady one. Jareth seemed to know exactly where he was going and Toby had a hard time keeping up with him. Several times they came across the Salamanders that had scared the goblins so much. They were the size of Komodo dragons, their scales seemed to be made of burning flame with black, poisonous looking tongues. It had been almost funny to watch Jareth simply toss one of his crystal balls into the snarling creature's mouths and watch as they steadily started to freeze from the inside out, turning them from fiery, angry monsters to misty, frozen ice sculptures.

As Jareth and Toby wound their way through a maze of hedges, Jareth flung out his arm to stop Toby in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Toby asked, taken aback slightly by the abrupt halt.

Jareth shook his head. He looked around slightly and seemed to be listening very closely to something. Toby tried to listen too. All he could here was the occasional rustle of the hedge leaves. Toby looked over and saw, to his surprise, that the leaves in the hedges were dropping steadily and falling to the ground.

"Jareth, what's . . .?"

Jareth press a finger to Toby's mouth, silencing him. He moved forward, slowly, looking warily at the leaves dropping to the ground. Toby followed him, feeling nervous. Something was disturbing the plants. Something was wrong, and he was scared to find out what. Jareth continued on, looking almost as worried as Toby felt, and they rounded a corner. And saw her.

Ena was lying down on her back amidst a small circle that was clear of hedges. Her skin looked oddly pale and her eyes were closed. All around her, the leaves dropped like tears from the hedges all around her. Toby came to his senses first.

"Ena!" he cried, running past the stunned Jareth and skidding to a halt right next to her. "Ena! Ena! Ena!"

She didn't respond.

"Ena!" Toby yelled, kneeling down next to her. He didn't know what to do. Should he touch her? Should he pick her up? How was he supposed to help her? "Ena! Wake up, please! Open your eyes, Ena!"

She didn't move at all. Toby knew, somewhere in his mind, just what he was seeing, but refused to believe it. It couldn't be true. It couldn't possibly be true. It wasn't the truth. She was fine only a few minutes ago. Talking to him a few minutes ago. Hugging him and telling him that everything was gonna be alright and that his sister would love him.

"ENA!" Toby cried out in a voice that didn't at all sound like his own.

Something heavy fell to the ground next to them. Toby looked up through streaming eyes to see that Jareth had fallen to his knees, staring down at Ena with utter disbelief in his eyes. He reached down and ran one leather-clad finger down her cheek, as if hoping his touch would awaken her. But nothing happened.

"Ena," he whispered. Toby barely heard him say it, it was so quiet. Jareth slipped his hand under her neck and lifted her up slightly. He wrapped his arms around her and held her to him, his face buried in the crook of her neck.

It was then that is struck Toby just who, of the two of them, had the right to mourn Ena. Jareth and Ena were friends. No, more than friends. The way he was holding her to him like that indicated more that simple friendship. There was love in that embrace. Jareth had loved Ena, but it wasn't the love that was shared between a husband and wife. This was a family love. Ena had been important to Jareth in a way Toby might have felt for his sister, if he'd known her.

"J-Jareth," Toby sobbed, trying to keep his voice steady. "Jareth, I . . . I'm . . . I'm so sorry."

There was silence for a moment, and then it was broken by the sound of Jareth taking a long, deep, shuddering breath. Toby's insides squirmed to hear that sound coming from such a powerful, older man like Jareth. It sounded as if he was resisting the urge to cry himself. Jareth very carefully lowered Ena back down to the ground, cradling her head gently with his gloved hands. He stood still for a moment, simply looking at her, and then lifted his head.

Toby resisted the urge to scoot away from Jareth once he saw the look on his face. It was the very portrait of rage. His mismatched eyes burned with a deep blue fire, which was more threatening than that of the Salamander's scales. His mouth was twisted into a scowl of absolute fury. He turned this head over to the castle that was their destination, his hands curled into fists and his furious eyes rather wet.

"Kyrie," he hissed.

**Ying-Fa: Uh-oh. Jareth is _not_ happy! That never bodes well. Okay, please tell me what you think. I'll write be back very soon, I promise.**


	17. Too Long

**Ying-Fa: Hey, people. Sorry for the wait. This one was hard to write. It was sad. There's another character death in this one. I apologize ahead of time. Please, read and tell me what you think.**

Kyrie waited in the entrance hall of the castle beyond the Goblin City. It wouldn't be long now. Jareth had found the girl's body and now he was coming, full of rage, towards his destiny. How long had he dreamed of this day? The day that he would finally do what he was born to do. Reinhardt had told him that this day would come. He had told him over and over that this was to be.

"_It's up to you, Kyrie,_" he'd said, day after day. "_Either you can hate your brother and murder him to take all that is and can be yours, or you can love your brother and die for him, then you'll have nothing._"

Kyrie took a deep breath. Jareth was coming, he could feel it. The insufferable bond that they shared as twins was telling him that his brother was coming closer and closer to him. His body tingled with anticipation. His hand gripped his knife tightly in his hand. He didn't want to take too long to kill Jareth but he wanted to make sure that he was dead. There could be nothing standing in the way of his destiny. He would take control of the Fae Kingdom and rule as the next king, just as he was meant to.

Behind him, Kyrie heard the great doors of the castle creak open loudly. They opened completely with two loud thuds and then there was the sound of echoing footsteps. Kyrie couldn't help the smile that curling on his lips and he turned around slowly to see his fate walking slowly, dangerously, toward him. Jareth stepped towards him with all the confidence in the world. He must know everything now. There was none of the angry confusion in his eyes from when they'd met before. Ten feet away from Kyrie, Jareth slowed to a stop, facing him with fierce anger in his eyes.

"Jareth," said Kyrie, nodding to him. "I've been waiting for you."

Jareth stared at him with eyes cold as death. "I know," he replied curtly.

Quick as a flash, Kyrie hurled the knife at Jareth with all the power he possessed. But Jareth simply stepped out of the line of fire, causing the knife to fly right passed him and sink into the wall behind him. Jareth turned around to look at the knife and for a moment, Kyrie was sure he'd seen concern in Jareth's eyes. But when Jareth returned his gaze to Kyrie, the fury was back in his stare.

"You want this over with, hm?" said Jareth, coldly.

"I've waited too long for this day," said Kyrie. "I won't risk being disappointed as I was at the Dread Isles."

Jareth laughed coldly. "Your Unseelie guardian has filled your head with delusions of being Fae King. I understand you don't want to be disappointed. But if that is what you really want, shouldn't it be done in a more appropriate way?"

"Appropriate?" said Kyrie.

Jareth twisted his wrist and a crystal appeared in his hand. "By birthrights, the title of Fae King, Ruler of the Seelie, and Master of the Underground is mine. For the title to pass on to you . . ."

"You must die," said Kyrie.

"True," said Jareth. "But murder is unforgivable in the Underground. No Fae will bend their knee to a life-taking fiend like you. If, however, I died defending my rank in a duel, that would be far more fitting."

"A duel?" said Kyrie, starting to laugh himself. "I see. To die in a duel would be an honorable death, and your death would not count as murder. But, if by some miracle, you survive the next few minutes then you'll have no choice but to murder me. Can you do that Jareth? Murder me? Kill your flesh and blood? You'll be risking your very soul if you did. You'd turn Unseelie and then what would your changeling and your whore think of you then?"

Jareth threw the crystal into the floor. Instead of breaking, it sank into the marble and at once the entire ground sprouted sharp, lethal spikes. Kyrie summoned his own, pointed crystal and tossed it upward. He flew off the ground and landed securely on a rough, metal chandelier that hung on the ceiling. Jareth walked closer until he was right under the chandelier, the spikes sinking into flat, safe floor everywhere he stepped.

"Don't you dare speak ill of them," he snarled. "They are my heart and soul and for their sakes I am willing to do anything. That would include killing you."

Kyrie smirked down at Jareth. "Face it Jareth, all your coming at me with is anger," he said gloatingly. "It'll take much more than that. You need hate to do the deed. Only hate will give you the power to kill."

"DID YOU HATE ENA!?" Jareth roared, his voice echoing horribly around the hall. "DID YOU HATE HER SO MUCH THAT YOU MURDERED HER IN COLD BLOOD!?"

Kyrie's smile vanished. "If you want the truth, I held no hate for her," he said. "She was an obstacle. She stood in my way of getting you. She refused to betray you and inform you that we held your mortal scum captive and lure you into our trap."

Jareth stared up at Kyrie, trembling with absolute rage. "That's why you killed her? That's all? That's all she was guilty of? Not betraying me!?"

"Yes," said Kyrie, coldly. "It was my hatred for you that drove me to kill that girl."

"VERY WRONG ANSWER!"

Kyrie barely had enough time to get out of the way before the chandelier shot upward in an attempt to slam him into the ceiling. He summoned another crystal and threw it to the spiked ground. There was a small explosion and Kyrie landed safely in the crater.

"So it shall be, brother," said Kyrie, summoning more pointed crystals. "A duel of fates awaits us. By the time it is over, one of us will be dead."

From the other corner of the room, Toby watched the two of them in fear. He was hidden securely under the cloak that Jareth had given him and had passed by them undetected. There had been a very tense moment when Kyrie's knife came close to catching him, but luckily that didn't happen.

Toby didn't want to leave Jareth alone to deal with Kyrie by himself, but there was nothing else to do. Jareth had told him, clear as day, to find the Queen and get her out of here. He was no match for any of these villains and so this was the only thing he could do to be useful.

Toby fled the entrance hall and slipped into the throne room. He rounded the corner just in time to see Kyrie hurl his crystals at Jareth.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Leon stared at the night sky. He felt anxious and weary. Something was coming he knew it. Something terrible was heading their way. He turned to see the little changeling girl sleeping soundly on his cot while the three creatures that watched over her were dozing in and out of consciousness.

"Wake up!" he barked at them. "Get up, you lazy beasts! Something's coming this way!"

Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus all jerked awake and spun around fearfully to see what had woken them.

"Sir Leon?" said Didymus, groggily. "What has happened? Are those vile hellions back for the sweet princess?"

"They may be," said Leon. "Quickly, take her to the cellar and hide her. She's not safe out in the open."

"Oh, I'm afraid it's far too late for that," said a snide voice from the shadows.

Reinhardt appeared out of the shadows, smirking. The three creatures reacted at once. Sir Didymus sprung into action, brandishing his staff and barking ferociously. Hoggle and Ludo made a beeline right for Rin, jumping in front of her and shielding her from view.

"Back, you evil scum!" growled Sir Didymus. "You dare to threaten the live of the darling princess!? I shall fight you to the death, you beast!"

Reinhardt laughed at Didymus's valiant words. "Such a bold beast," he said. "I must remember to return for your corpse later and turn it into a throw rug." Then he kicked out at Didymus catching him in the chest with his boot. Didymus flew across the room, gasping for air.

"V . . . vile . . . b-brute," wheezed Didymus, the wind knocked out of him. "I . . . don't want . . . to have . . . to hurt you."

"Ha ha!" laughed Reinhardt. "I do so love your sense of humor, little weasel! Now," he turned to Hoggle and Ludo. "Get out of my way, moronic creatures."

"Y-you w-want her," stammered Hoggle, terrified out of his mind. "Y-you'll have t-t-to g-get through u-us f-f-first!"

"Yeah!" growled Ludo.

Reinhardt smiled and shrugged. "Very well," he said, simply. He drew one of his cards, the King of Wands, and flicked it. It turned into a great glittering staff before swinging it violently at the two creatures, knocking them to the floor beside Didymus. But as he reached for Rin, Leon stepped forward next.

"Leave the girl," he said, firmly. "Let her be Reinhardt."

Reinhardt looked up at Leon, his black eyes glittering with a deep, malicious hate. "Well, well, well, if it isn't old saggy bones. Still alive, are you? And you're once again getting in the way of my purifying the Underground . . . for the second time."

"The girl is just a child," said Leon. "Leave her with me. I'll return her to the Aboveground and she can stay there. You needn't kill the child."

"Aw," said Reinhardt, whipping a non-existent tear from his cheek. "How sweet of you, Leon. You'd use the spell that brought your sorry hide into our world to take her to the Aboveground."

"Yes, I would," said Leon, valiantly. "I'll do whatever it takes to stop you shedding even more innocent blood in this place."  
"But your proposition is riddled with flaws, you squid-sucking old loon," said Reinhardt. "You mean to protect the little bit of filth from me, and yet you'd put her through a spell that would probably just kill her anyway? Tut, tut, my boy. You should have known I'd see through you. I always have, after all. Ha, ha!"

Leon flinched. "Leave her be," he insisted. "They all must be left alone! Just let them live their lives, Reinhardt. What you are doing isn't for the good of the Underground. It is for your own sick satisfaction!"

"My satisfaction?" said Reinhardt, chuckling again. "No, good sir, this isn't just for me. It is for the good of the Unseelie."

"What?"

"No longer are we to be tied to the Dread Isle in exile," said Reinhardt, malevolently. "Once Kyrie kills Jareth, the Fae will have no choice but to recognize him as their ruler. Not only that, but he'll be Unseelie when he raises to the throne and one by one, they'll follow in his example."

"So that is your plot," said Leon, sounding shocked. "You're planning on turning the rest of the Fae race Unseelie."

"I'm merely looking for a way to continue my kind," said Reinhardt. "It's been a very boring existence, being the only Unseelie Fae in all these years. Of course I would have been happy to have used Jareth as my ticket to the top, but he turned out to be nothing but a softie, like his daddy before him."

"So this is why you took Kyrie," hissed Leon. "So that he could either be your puppet or your sacrificial lamb! It all depended on whether or not Jareth would join you. But he chose to side with the mortals. He took a mortal girl to wife and bore the first changeling to be born since the Age of Lovely Blood. Not a good quality for an Unseelie King."

"Give the geezer a prize!" said Reinhardt, clapping his hands. "Did you figure that out all by yourself? Aw, you're such a shmart boy!"

At this point, Didymus reached up and attacked again, but Reinhardt was prepared. As the furious fox rushed over to him, Reinhardt swung the staff down and pinned Didymus to the ground with it.

"Unhand me you unspeakable cad! Let go of me!" he barked angrily.

"You'll not win," snapped Leon. "Jareth will overcome Kyrie! He has the power to defeat your little marionette and you!"

"The power, maybe, but not the hatred," said Reinhardt. "Kyrie has all the hate in the world, but Jareth is too bound by his pathetic heart. He won't want to become Unseelie, not while his mortal bride and changeling brat are around. The rest of the Underground needs to learn that, by following examples like his, there will only be destruction and death. That is why the little child must die where everyone can hear her screams. This world needs to be reminded what happens when you meddle in the filth of the Aboveground."

Reinhardt swung the staff like a golf club and knocked Didymus against Ludo's chest. He then swatted it at Leon and caught him in the shoulder, causing him to topple to the ground like the others and scooped up Rin in his arm. At once, the little girl awoke and looked up at the man holding her. She screamed and started to cry, wiggling and squirming to get out of his grasp, but he held her tightly.

"Leave her alone!" cried Hoggle. "Leave her alone!"

"Rin!" roared Ludo.

"UNHAND THE PRINCESS YOU FILTHY CUR!" shrieked Didymus.

"Reinhardt!" yelled Leon. "You disgusting, scheming, greedy monster!"

"Aw, you're making me blush," said Reinhardt, looking flattered. "Poor old Leon, once a failure, always a failure. Now as long as you're cooped up in this smoldering piece of ruin, the spell that Alastiar cast over you remains intact. Well, let's see how you fair when there is no castle left to keep you alive with."

And then the ruined castle erupted in flames. Leon and the creatures shielded themselves from the heat and dangerous flame, none of them were able to stop Reinhardt as he disappeared, taking the crying, screaming Rin with him.

"We're dead!" yelled Hoggle, panicking. "We're dead! We're gonna die!"

But just as the words left Hoggle's mouth, they were outside. They were yards away from the burning castle, outside and surrounded by dark trees.

"Wh-what happened?" said Sir Didymus, looking around confused.

"Old though I may be," said Leon. "I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve, little knight."

"You got us outta there?" asked Hoggle, turning to Leon. But then he gasped. Leon suddenly looked different. His face was more lined; his gray hair was now white. He looked much, much older all of a sudden.

Leon didn't seem to notice the change at all. He grabbed a stick from the ground and began to draw odd symbols in the dirt, frowning in concentration.

"Good sir," said Didymus. "You're . . . you look . . ."

"I know, I know," said Leon. "I'm out of the castle. The spell that's been keeping me alive all these years is ending."

"But," stammered Hoggle. "Won't that mean . . . does that mean that you'll . . . that you're . . .?"

"Yes, little dwarf," said Leon, smiling grimly. "I have about ten minutes to live."

"Minutes?" said Ludo, looking worried.

"Never you fear," said Leon, not taking his eyes off his work. "It's alright. I've lived too long anyway. Humans aren't meant to live like I have. We're meant to expire. We're meant to die. The only reason we keep on living is if we have something or someone to live for. Me? All I've been doing is sitting on my backside waiting for an end that'll never come."

"So . . . so yer just gonna . . . go?" asked Hoggle, looking very sad indeed at the things Leon was saying. "What about us? You can come with us to . . . OH NO!" Hoggle gasped. "Rin! That loony's got Rin! Jareth's gonna kill me! And if he doesn't kill me, Sarah'll kill me! I'm dead! I'm dead!"

"Don't fear, dwarf," said Leon, looking older and older as each second went by. "I'm going to use the last of my strength to send the three of you back to this labyrinth of yours."

"But what about you, sir?" said Didymus. "You should come with us, Sir Leon. You needn't end your life now."

"Yes," said Hoggle. "You can't just give up."

"Leon stay," insisted Ludo.

"No," said Leon, smiling. "I'm fine, my good fellows. I've had this coming for ages now. My friends are dead. I can't go back to my home world. I learned all that I can from this life, now it's time to go. I've been alive for much too long, anyway. Just do me one thing, little friends."

"But of course," said Didymus, and the others nodded vigorously.

"Save them," he said, his voice starting to become reedy and weak. "Protect Jareth, your queen, and that sweet little princess from Reinhardt and his foul schemes. Save your royal family, as I failed to save mine."

"We shall indeed, noble sir," said Didymus, bowing his head to him.

"Yes," mumbled Hoggle.

"Yeah," Ludo rumbled gloomily.

"Thank you," said Leon, finishing his drawing. "Now, off you go. Save that little girl. You'd better work fast. Especially you, dwarf because I don't think that Jareth likes you all that much."

The spell activated at once. In an instant, the symbols emitted a bright light that filled up the area and then, the three friends were gone.

"They'll be alright," said Leon, growing older still. He raised his decrepit old head and stared up at the sky. "Ah well, it wasn't all that bad, was it? This life."

No longer able to stay on his knees, Leon carefully lowered his swiftly aging body to the ground and lay down on his back. Soon his vision was starting to weaken, his hearing was fading fast, and a deep heaviness swept over his body. He closed his eyes, shutting out his blurring vision, and failed to open them again.

He fell slowly and calmly. It wasn't as bad as he'd thought. It was actually kind of relieving. It was like he was a caterpillar finally breaking free from his cocoon. Leaving behind the wretched, heavy part of him behind and finally managing to stretch his wings.

_"Leon? Leon, my friend! It's you."_

_"Yes, indeed Alastair. It is good to see you again."_

_"Oh Leon. It has been too long."_

Leon smiled at Illyana's beautiful, glowing face.

_"Yes. Too long, my dear. Much, much too long for me."_

After the soul departed from the body, it continued to deform swiftly. The time that it had cheated had come back to it at full speed, consuming it. The skin vanished, the organs withered into nothingness, the hair fell away, until there was nothing left but a skeleton that, too, crumpled into dust.

And so Leon was no more.

**Ying-Fa: This was sad to write. I really liked creating Leon, but it was time for him to go. A little bittersweetness for you all there.**

**Nagini-chan: If you don't like making people sad, stop killing off characters you like. Can't you kill off someone everyone hates for a change?**

**Ying-Fa: Maybe I will . . . in the next chapter. Coming up, deaths that will make you cheer instead of cry! I hope to see you there! Please review and I'll be back once the next chapter's ready.**


	18. Black Roses Red

**Ying-Fa: Thank you all for your kindness. Over 100 reviews! YAY! I'm so happy! Okay, this was meant to be longer, but it became too long so I made it into two chapters. Okay, please read to your heart's content!**

Sarah hurried through the Fiery's forest, her broken arm held tightly to her, the fingers clutching Ena's rose. She'd managed to escape the castle and make her way through the City and the Junkyard and entered the woods before she'd gotten the horrible feeling that she was going in the completely wrong direction. A powerful tug on her being told her that that which she was heading out to find was now in the place she'd just left.

"Jareth," she breathed. "Rin?"

She made an abrupt, about-face and headed back the way she came. She didn't know about her daughter, but something was absolutely certain to her. Her husband was in need of her. He was in trouble and she needed to be there. Before long she reentered the clearing where she'd first met the Fiery's, but they were gone now. They'd probably tried to seek shelter from the salamanders somewhere else in the labyrinth. It was then that she heard someone say her name.

"There you are, little girl-queen Sarah."

She gasped and spun around. Azzazel was stalking toward her, his vicious, pointed teeth bared in a sinister grin.

"Where are you running to, little girl?" he said. "Trying to flee? Well, I'm afraid that you're too late. Your husband is heading for, and may already have reached, his demise. His Grace Kyrie will kill him and the two of you shall fall into hell together. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Get away from me!" Sarah yelled. "Don't you dare come near me! What have you done with Jareth!?"

"I haven't done a thing," said Azzazel. "I already told you, Kyrie is killing him now. It's the bitty little changeling that I'd be worried about. Master Reinhardt has just managed to apprehend her and will be killing her for all creatures in this infernal maze to see."

"He will not," growled Sarah. "Jareth won't die. Your Kyrie won't be able to. Jareth will beat him and then save our daughter. I know he can!"

Azzazel cackled dangerously. "Please. His Grace has been training for this day ever since he was an infant. He'll not fail."

"Jareth thinks that I'm still in the castle," said Sarah. "If he knew you had Rin too, then I'd be willing to say that your Kyrie won't last five minutes. Unless he knows what that monster did to Ena, then he won't last five seconds. Nobody can stand in his way, especially when you're endangering someone he loves."

Azzazel stared at her critically, then grinned and reached his hand back.

SMACK!

The daemon slapped Sarah hard across the face with the back of his hand. She gasped and fell to the ground curling up defensively. Azzazel smiled triumphantly at her. "Well, little miss, I endangered someone he loves and he didn't save you. I guess your darling husband is just too busy. Hee hee."

"Get away from me," Sarah shrieked, crawling away from him. "Don't touch me! Don't you dare touch me!"

"You're so concerned about me touching you," said Azzazel. "I wonder why that is. If you're worried I'm going to take advantage of you, you needn't worry. That's not my style. I have no desire for flesh. I prefer to see people's insides on their outsides."

"Stay back," Sarah snapped, rubbing her face where he'd hit her. "Leave me alone."

"Oh, now you've gotta be kidding me," said Azzazel. "What is it with you? You're not the spirited little spitfire that you're recorded to be. Where is the fight? Where is the rage? That's what I wanna see, not some shrinking violet that's scared of me touching her."

Azzazel came closer and Sarah backed away, glaring up at him hatefully. "What is it that you're scared of?" he asked her. "Are you ashamed that you can't protect your daughter or your husband from the wrath of my masters? It'll be over soon, my dear, and does it pain you to know that you couldn't save them in any way? Not even poor, baby changeling is safe with you."

Sarah glared up at him, tears forming in her eyes. "You're wrong," she snapped.

"Wrong how?" asked Azzazel.

"Jareth and Rin may not be here right now," said Sarah, whipping her streaming eyes furiously. "But there's still one member of my family that I can protect."

"Wh-?" Azzazel began, but he looked over her again, closer. He sniffed at her with his pointed nose and understanding dawned on his face. "Oh Hades, you can't be serious. Not another one!?"

"Yes," snapped Sarah, wrapping her arms protectively around her stomach. "Another one."

"When did this happen?" snarled the daemon.

"I can't be sure," said Sarah honestly. "I only just found out myself. When I hurt my arm, the doctor told me that I was very lucky. I asked him why and he told me that . . . that my baby wasn't hurt in the accident."

Azzazel glared at Sarah with disgust on his evil face, but then his eyes widened and a sinister smirk appeared on his face. "Well, this is an unexpected twist on events. No matter. The _thing_ growing inside of you may not have been hurt before, but once you are dead, I shall enjoy ripping it from your womb and showcasing it to the entire Underground, along with the corpse of your daughter, to teach this world just what become of those who chose to violate this world with filth like you."

Sarah's face twisted into a look that could kill. "Don't even think about it," she hissed. "I don't care what you do to me! I don't care what happens to me, but if you dare lay a finger on my children . . ."

"You'll do what?" asked Azzazel, laughing cruelly. "You can't do anything to me. Look at you! The way you shield yourself from me, thinking that it'll protect that wretched _thing_ in your belly. Oh, it's all I can do to stop myself from getting at you now. From ripping you to shreds and crushing the _thing_ within you between my fingers."

"SHUT UP!" screamed Sarah. "STAY AWAY FROM ME YOU SICK FREAK!"

"It almost can't be helped," said Azzazel, stepping closer to her, his grotesque tongue darting out of his mouth to lick his lips. "It's just too tempting. Mm, I wonder what your blood tastes like, little queen. Will it be sweet? Or sour, perhaps? Salty? Bitter? It's almost a shame for the _thing_. I'll never get a chance to hear it scream."

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

Sarah almost didn't know what happened. One minute, Azzazel was creeping toward her, eyeing her stomach, and the next he was bent over backward, howling in pain. It was only when he swung around did Sarah see why. Hoggle had come running up from behind Azzazel, took a running leap, and had grabbed two fistfuls of Azzazel's long black hair. Sarah stared in horror as she watched the dwarf dangle from the daemon's hair, clinging on for dear life.

"Get off of me!" screamed Azzazel. "Get off, you pitiful bit of filth!"

"Hold, you vile hellion! Don't you dare lay a finger on the queen or my dear comrade!"

Sir Didymus and Ludo appeared almost out of nowhere. Ludo roared in anger and grabbed him roughly while Didymus whacked him forcefully in the shins with his staff. Azzazel, torn between the monster lifting him off the ground, the fox whacking at his legs, or the dwarf dangling from his hair, didn't know where to strike first. Ultimately, he decided on all three.

Azzazel reached back and grabbed Hoggle's wrist, then swung the dwarf mightily into Ludo's face. The two collided painfully and fell to the ground. Now free of them, the daemon kicked out at Didymus, catching him in the gut and making him fly over towards the others. Ludo wasn't ready to give up. He threw his head back and howled into the air. At once, rocks flooded towards them, heeding Ludo's call. Azzazel was ready for them. He raised his hand, his black fingernails growing at an alarming rate, he slashed at them and they crumpled into pebbles at his feet.

The daemon turned around to hiss at the cowering creatures. "Finally," he breathed. "Something I'm allowed to kill."

"YOU DON'T GET TO TOUCH THEM!"

Sarah, who had been sitting in a daze as she watched the scene before her, sprang into action. She ran up behind the daemon and slammed her fist into the back of his neck . . . forgetting for a second that Ena's rose was still clutched in the hand she'd beaten him with. The sharp point of the rose sank into the daemon's skin and stayed there when she drew her hand away. Azzazel writhed and shrieked with pain and clutched at the flower, trying to pull it out of his neck. But the flower stayed firmly planted into his skin, then something strange began to happen.

Azzazel's skin started to move strangely. It was as though something underneath it was moving quickly through him. His eyes widened to their fullest degree as he wrapped his hands around his throat, apparently choking on something. But then the wriggling things underneath his skin grew and his skin broke to reveal a terrible sight.

Thorns.

Black, sharp, lethal thorns were breaking free from underneath his skin, tearing through him. Azzazel's mouth was stretched in a silent scream of terror before more thorns sprouted from out of his mouth. They shredded his skin, tearing him apart from the inside out. Sarah and the others watched in horror as the thorns grew and grew all around him and then sprouted flower buds. As Azzazel fell to the ground, twitching, the buds began to bloom into an array of beautiful black roses. The daemon only had enough life left in him for one more, violent twitch before he lay still forever. The thorns continued to grow within him, even though he was dead, until there was nothing at all recognizable about the daemon. All that was left were roses and thorns.

"Wh-what did you _do!?_" Hoggle asked, looking at Sarah incredulously.

"I . . . it was the rose," said Sarah, still gaping at the black rose bush. "It was one of . . . Ena's spells."

"The black rose of death," said Didymus solemnly. "It was said that when the nature-speakers were destroyed during the war, an array of black roses sprouted from the ground wherever their bodies lay. They believed in the laws of nature, Lady Ena's kind. If anyone ever dared disturb the roses, they met an untimely and gruesome end."

"H-how did ya get one of them flowers, Sarah?" Hoggle asked, still staring at Azzazel in horror.

Sarah hesitated. "I . . . got it from Ena . . . just before she . . ."

"She what?"

Sarah looked over at her friends, her eyes filled with tears. "Ena . . . Ena's gone, you guys."

The three creatures stared at her in disbelief. "G-gone?" gasped Hoggle. "Y-yeh don't mean . . . ya _can't_ mean she's . . . that she's . . . dead?"

Sarah nodded, her eyes filled with tears.

"M-my lady Ena," said Didymus, looking down at the ground sadly. "It can't be possible. That poor, loving maiden."

"Ena friend," grumbled Ludo, hanging his head in sorrow. "Ena . . . Ena gone."

"Yes," said Sarah, whipping her eyes. "She . . . she was m-murdered . . .by Kyrie."

"Kyrie? OH NO!" cried Hoggle. "Sarah! We forgot to tell ya! Jareth's at the castle right now! He went looking fer ya! That Kyrie's saying he's gonna kill Jareth! What'll we do?"

"No he won't," said Sarah. "He's not touching Jareth, not if I can help it. Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, I need your help."

"Yes madam," said Sir Didymus. "Anything for you!"

"Anything at all," said Hoggle. "That filth Reinhardt and that rat Kyrie are gonna get what's coming to them."

"Yeah!" said Ludo.

"Thank you," said Sarah, and they made off back toward the castle. "How did you guys get here anyway."

The three friends exchanged nervous looks. "Sarah, I hate to tell ya this, but yer kinda behind the times . . ."

**Ying-Fa: Ding dong, the daemon's dead. I send my special thanks to my friend Yang-chan who helped me plan out such a lovely, horrific death for Azzazel. She also helped me with a few . . . other things that'll come up later. Thanks again! And a big, fat box of cookies goes to luvnote4u for guessing right. Sarah's eggo is preggo! (Ha, I couldn't resist!) okay, tell me what you think!**


	19. Regardless

**Ying-Fa: This one was kinda hard to put together, hence the wait. But thankfully, I managed to piece it together! I do so hope you enjoy it. The end is in sight, my pretties! Soon, Return To Me will draw to a close. Thank you everybody who has stuck with me all this time. And don't forget that everybody who reviews gets personally thanked in the final chapter!**

_Every day, for as long as I can remember, he repeated those same words to me. Those dark, black words that made my blood run cold._

_"Either you can hate your brother and kill him, or you can love him and die yourself."_

_"Kill your brother, Kyrie. It's the only option really."_

_"This was the reason you were born. This is the sole reason you exist."_

_"It's up to you. You have the choice. Live or die. Kill or be killed. It's all you've got, so don't waste it."_

_When I was still a child, the words . . . almost frightened me. Murder is unforgivable in the Underground. To do so earns the most terrible of punishments. If I ever dared to speak about my fear, Reinhardt would laugh at my silliness._

_"Come on now," he'd say. "Cowardice will get you killed. Is that what you want, Kyrie? Do you want to die?"_

_"No," I'd reply._

_"Then what are you complaining about?" he'd respond. "Don't misunderstand. You were born this way. You've always been cursed. It's always been your decision. Always."_

_I'd listen to him. All the time, I'd listen to him and his black words. His evil, Unseelie words were carved into my mind. They stuck there permanently until . . ._

_They became the truth. I am cursed. I am the pitiful result of a pure line of perfect Fae Royalty that has been tarnished with changeling blood. I am the twin born second. I am the one who has death walking alongside me, waiting for the day that I would put it to use. Death is my shadow. He follows me, reminding me everyday of what I must do. Reinhardt was the voice of death. He spoke in death's place. He reminded me everyday that if I didn't do as I must . . . then I must be dead._

_Who wants to be dead? Nobody wants to be cursed with death. Nobody wants that. I certainly didn't want it. I don't want to die. I want to live. I want to take what is mine. I want the throne that my father neglected and took advantage of. I want to rid myself of my filthy, changeling heritage. I want to be free of my foul mother's blood. Reinhardt showed me how. He told me how it was to be done._

_And here he is. I've finally found you. My older brother. Jareth. If I kill you now, at long last, everything will be mine. Ena was wrong. There was no going back once I've come this far. She seemed to think that Jareth would forgive me for all I've done thus far. She wanted me to forgive and forget. How can you forget destiny? How can I go against all that I was born into?_

_She was wrong. I killed her to save myself from her hideous lies. She was lying to me. She wanted me to love my brother. She couldn't see. I can't love my brother. I can't. If I do, then I will be fulfilling my destiny in the way that I never could. If I love Jareth, then I'll die. I'll be condemned to death and he'll continue living in his putrid existence. With his mortal wife and his changeling brat and his goblins and the labyrinth._

_Ena would rather that he lived and I didn't. She wished me dead and yet she still had it in her to embrace me and try to sooth me. Foul girl. I do not regret killing her. She wished that what is happening now would never happen. Her love for Jareth, whether it be family love or otherwise it matters not, wished that this moment wouldn't happen. Stupid girl. I've waited my entire life for this. Now the time has come at last._

_I must kill Jareth._

_Now I finally have the chance._

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Jareth and Kyrie stared at each other, both breathing heavily. The duel had lasted longer than either of them had ever anticipated. Both of them had sustained injuries. Jareth had a cut on his temple that was bleeding into his eyes and Kyrie had an injured leg that was trembling to support his weight. The entrance hall was in disarray. The floor and walls were crumbling and it looked in danger of collapsing at any moment.

_This can't go on much longer,_ Jareth thought. _At this rate, there will be no victor. We're evenly matched. How ironic . . ._

"I won't let this end any other way, Jareth!" yelled Kyrie, summoning yet more crystals. "I must win. I'm not going to fail!"

He threw the crystals and they transformed into snakes. They struck out at Jareth, flashing poisonous fangs, but Jareth was prepared. He drew up one of his own crystals and it turned into a rapier which he swung elegantly at the snakes and in one stroke, he decapitated them all.

"I will not fail either, Kyrie," said Jareth. "I won't lose everything I have because of you. I've worked too hard to gain all that I have. I'm not going to risk losing it to the likes of you."

"Then aim to kill!" spat Kyrie. "Even now, you only defend yourself and set up traps, hoping I'll fall into them. If you want to kill me then you're going to have to try harder than that!"

"I'm not a murderer like you," said Jareth, pointing his sword directly at Kyrie's throat, though they were still a few feet away from each other.

"Then you'll lose."

Kyrie attacked again, his crystals turning into pointed darts which he hurled at Jareth. Jareth blocked them with his sword, but wasn't fast enough to stop Kyrie from coming up behind him, his knife in hand. The knife then flashed through the air as he brought it down. Jareth twisted around in time for the blade to sink into his shoulder. There was a quick splash of blood and Jareth couldn't stop the scream of pain that tore from his throat.

Jareth sank to his knees, his good arm clutching at his wound. Ignoring the pain, he dug his fingers into the injury to staunch the flow of blood that poured down his arm, staining his shirt. Kyrie stood over him, triumphant.

"It's over, brother," he said, raising the knife once again. "My destiny is fulfilled."

Jareth looked up at him, his face twisted with malice. "Oh, I seriously doubt that," he snarled. He took his fingers out of the wound in this shoulder and snapped them. At once the room was suddenly full of the sounds of clanking. Kyrie tore his eyes away from the sight of Jareth on the ground to search for the source of the noise.

The cleaners had appeared out of nowhere and were heading straight for Kyrie, their many knives flashing and clanking dangerously. Kyrie turned for the other direction, only to discover another deadly machine charging towards him from the other end of the hall.

Jareth watched as his most dangerous traps drew nearer and nearer the cornered man. He never thought he would have to use them for something like this. The labyrinth was never meant to be a death trap. There was nothing more that could be done. He wouldn't lose all he had due to this man. He had feared this day would come, where he would have to use any means necessary to protect all that he loved. Ever since shortly after Rin's birth he'd been having nightmares in which he lost all he loved. Visions where the labyrinth would be destroyed, all its creatures dead or starving, and his beloved wife and his precious child were gone forever. He wouldn't allow it. He couldn't allow it. If the price for keeping the happiness that he'd worked his entire existence to create was the death of all that he had left of the family he'd never known, then so be it.

Jareth's thoughts were disrupted by a loud crashing noise. His head snapped up in time to see that Kyrie had attacked the already crumbling walls of the hall. The crumbling room caved in. Chunks of the wall and the ceiling came crashing down, crushing the cleaners and stopping them dead in their tracks.

Kyrie moved quickly amongst the debris, forcing his injured leg to work in his favor. He turned about, looking for Jareth, determined to finish the deed. He found him right where he'd left him. He was using his magic to save the castle from total collapse. How stupid of him to waste his power on saving the _castle_. Just as Kyrie took a step closer did he see it. A heavy, metal chandelier was swinging dangerously on the crumpling ceiling right over Jareth's head. It wouldn't hold out for much longer. It would fall any second now, and Jareth would be killed.

"No," he hissed, hurrying forward. "No! It can't be done any other way! He must die by my hand, not by . . .!"

The chandelier's chain snapped. Jareth looked up in time to see it fall and knew he'd never get out of the way in time. He shut his eyes and braced himself for what was about to happen.

CRASH!

It took a moment to register what was going on. He may have even blacked out for a moment. All Jareth knew was that the moment he came to his sensed did he realize that he couldn't breathe. He struggled against the immense weight that was crushing him. Forcing himself to calm down, he focused his eyes, trying to make sense of what was happening to him. He twisted around and saw the truth.

The weight that was pressing down on him was the combined weight of the chandelier and Kyrie. Kyrie was stretched out over Jareth's body, the metal of the chandelier cut into his back, almost severing him. As Jareth struggled to make sense of this, he used what was left of his energy and his magic to free himself. The chandelier lifted off of them and crashed to the ground beside them. Jareth then took hold of Kyrie's limp form and slid out from underneath him.

"K-Kyrie," he gasped, still trying to catch his breath.

Kyrie made a terrible noise that was something between a choke and a gasp. Jareth looked over at Kyrie's back. There were gashes so deep that they seemed to cut right into his spinal cord. He bled profusely and Jareth knew that there was no way that he should still be alive, yet he moved still. His hands reached out for Jareth and he tried to speak.

". . . I . . . I can't . . . not yet," he choked. "Kill . . . you . . . I don't . . . have . . . choice."

"Stay still," said Jareth. "Don't move. Don't speak. You'll only make it worse. I'm going to try and heal . . ."

" . . . My . . . purpose . . ." breathed Kyrie. "If I . . . don't . . . kill you . . . I'll die."

"You'll die anyway if you keep wasting energy on talking," said Jareth, looking at the disgusting wounds in Kyrie's back. There's no way he could heal them. He didn't have much knowledge on healing arts, he'd never really needed them. Goblins looked at injuries like compliments and so he rarely had to heal anyone. The only person capable of healing something like this was now dead.

Kyrie lay there, his vision darkening, Reinhardt's voice echoing in his increasingly dull mind.

"_Hate your brother . . . kill him._"

He tried to force himself to move. He had to kill Jareth. It was all he had left. If he didn't, then his existence was worthless.

"Why?"

Kyrie heard Jareth's voice as if it had been coming from a mile away. Why, he asked? That was a good question. Why had he got in the way of the chandelier? It would have killed Jareth and this would be the other way around. Why? Why? Why was it like this.

Kyrie felt a trace of magic from somewhere. He forced himself to look around. Jareth was using his powers to try and heal him. Why? Again, there was that question. Why was Jareth trying to save him? He'd tried to kill Jareth and yet Jareth was attempting to save his life? Why? Why? Why?

Reinhardt provided the answer to that for him.

"_Or you can love your brother . . . and die in his place._"

Was that what was happening? His destiny was being fulfilled after all, just not how he'd wanted or pictured it. Was this the way it was meant to be? Was he supposed to love Jareth, after all? Was this his curse? Had he meant to die, no matter what he chose to feel for Jareth? How in the hell was that fair?

". . . h . . . h . . ."

"Kyrie?" said Jareth, looking down at Kyrie's face.

" . . . hate . . . you . . ."

Jareth sighed. "I realize that," he said. "But that won't stop me from trying to save you. I've searched . . . for much too long to find the life I'd been cheated out of. You are all that's left of that life. So, I'll save you."

Kyrie's body trembled a bit. Jareth tried again to use the healing arts, but all he could come up with was a meager amount of magic that wouldn't heal a paper cut let alone these gashes. Jareth tried to force it to work, but it continued to fail. Finally, he heard a tiny sigh. He looked over at Kyrie and let out his breath in a long sigh.

Kyrie's eyes were open, but there was no light in them to speak of. He was dead.

Jareth stared at the dead man. He didn't want to feel what he was feeling. He didn't want to feel the pain that wretched at his heart. He didn't want it. Kyrie had nearly destroyed all that he loved for his own disgusting, twisted reasons. Why, then, did he feel like a part of him was leaving him forever? Why was the loss so terrible to feel?

"Jareth!"

Jareth tore his eyes from Kyrie's face and looked up. "Sarah," he sighed, his heart bursting at the sight of her.

Sarah maneuvered through the destroyed cleaners and the debris, her three friends close behind her. Hoggle, stumbling through the damage, yelled, "What the hell happened here!?" but Sarah didn't seem to notice. She only had eyes for Jareth. She reached him and threw her arms around him, sobbing in happiness.

"Jareth," she breathed as he wrapped his arms securely around her in return. "I . . . I was so scared, Jareth!"

Jareth held her so tightly he was sure he'd never be able to let her go. Sarah was back with him. After so long, she was back in his arms where she belonged. Oh, how beautiful she was! How badly he needed her now, when he was filled with this hollow, empty feeling that had filled him the moment Kyrie passed away.

Sarah finally seemed to notice Kyrie's body after about a minute in Jareth's embrace. "Oh!" she gasped, trying to scoot away from him, but Jareth held her firmly in his arms.

"It's alright," said Jareth, his voice flat and toneless. "He's dead."

"Oh my . . ." said Sarah, struggling to take it in. "Jareth. Jareth I . . . are you . . . alright?"

Jareth's resolve seemed to break as she said it. He screwed up his face to force back the wave of sadness he didn't want to feel.

"He was . . . a murderer," said Jareth, his voice unsteady. "And a fiend. But, regardless, he was still my brother."

Sarah looked into his eyes and shed the tears that he couldn't bring himself to cry.

**Ying-Fa: There you are, Kyrie is dead. Please review and tell me if it's any good. I always do relay on you. Next up, Toby vs. Reinhardt! I hope to see you all there!**


	20. The Tower

**Ying-Fa: OMG, I'm on the second to last chapter! Sorry, people, I couldn't fit a ball/gala scene in this story. Hopefully the scene between Kyrie and Ena will be enough to count as a satisfactory dreamy scene. I hope that you enjoy these final chapters. It's been a pleasure writing this and I hope it's been an equal pleasure reading this.**

Reinhardt appeared suddenly in the topmost tower of the castle beyond the Goblin City. He still held Rin under his arm, where she screamed and cried and flailed her limbs trying to escape.

"Shush, little changeling brat," said Reinhardt. "Your papa's probably already gone off to that big, bright labyrinth in the sky along with mama. But we need Kyrie to confirm this. We'll give him ten minutes and then he'll come join the fun. Or else we'll probably start without him."

Reinhardt carried the screaming girl out to the balcony and looked down at the labyrinth. There were no signs of the Salamanders he'd placed all around the giant maze. Jareth probably saw that they were destroyed when he came back and found his little pink-haired friend had gotten her back stabbed . . . literally. He smiled to himself. She was probably part of Jareth and Sarah's welcoming party at this very moment.

Rin continued to kick and scream, demanding freedom. In desperation, she opened her mouth and sank her few, though sharp, teeth into his knuckle.

"AHH!" cried Reinhardt. "Sweet skekses sucking on essence of gelfling, that smarts!" He dropped Rin so that she fell painfully onto the floor while he examined his bitten finger. "I'm not gonna have changeling germs now, am I?"

Rin pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, now crying because she was in pain. She tried to scoot away from Reinhardt, but he noticed and picked her up again. His black eyes glared at her teary, mismatched ones as she wept profusely.

"You and your kind are nothing but trouble," growled Reinhardt. He looked down at the labyrinth again. He could see the goblins scurrying around the entrances, getting ready to invade once their king gave them the command that would never come. They would do for an audience. He put one foot on top of the balcony wall and cried out for them all to here.

"Creatures of the Underground, lend me your ears!" he called, his voice booming through the dark night. He couldn't help but notice that a few of the goblins were actually tugging on their ears. Such useless creatures . . .

"I am here to teach this world a lesson!" he announced. "It seems the Age of Lovely Blood wasn't enough for this world to realize that changelings are _not welcome_ in our Underground. I have dedicated my life to the destruction of the changeling kind and for all my success there is some that still try and bring about the disgusting traditions of our forefathers.

"One of these perpetrators is your king, Jareth. The firstborn heir and son to the last High King, Alastiar, who has since refused to take his place as Fae King and settled for becoming Goblin King who lived in the great castle beyond the Goblin City in the midst of the great and terrible Labyrinth! Jareth thought he could bring the old ways back into action. He took a _mortal woman_ as his wife and together they brought forth a changeling. _This _changeling!" Reinhardt took hold of Rin by the neck and held her over the edge of the balcony, kicking and screaming.

"This child is the very abomination that I tried to rid our beloved world of," Reinhardt continued. "But now, I am pleased to say that she shall soon be no more. Her vile mother and her foolish father have also been disposed of. But, never fear, of there is a new age that shall emerge. With the death of this little abomination, the Fae shall rise again! We shall unite under the new king of the Underground. King Alastair's second born son, Kyrie, has agreed to usurp the throne that has been without its king for so long. The age of the Unseelie is nigh, my foul hellions!"

"UNSEELIE!" cried the goblins below, and started whipping their hands and spitting, trying to rid themselves of any bad mojo that his words had evoked.

"The Fae shall rise again more powerful then we ever were before," cried Reinhardt, shaking Rin a little so that she swung dangerously in his grip. "It shall be up to you, my stupid little creatures. Join us! Join the Unseelie and you shall have a future. Your King and your kingdom is dead! We are all you have left!"

"LISTEN TO ME, ALL OF YOU!"

A second voice, louder and clearer than Reinhardt's, echoed through the labyrinth, alerting the creatures below. They recognized it and they shouted in relief and gratitude

"I am speaking to you to assure you that this Unseelie monster's words are not accurate," Jareth's voice called among his subjects. "The very fact that you can now hear my voice is proof enough. This monster has attempted to assassinate me, the Queen, and now threatens the Princess as well. The one called Kyrie is dead. Now is your time, my goblins. Come and reclaim this city as your own!"

Reinhardt stood there in shock, his gusto completely gone, and he watched as the goblins let out triumphant war cries and charged into the labyrinth. Kyrie was dead? Impossible. It was over. All he'd worked for all these years was completely wasted! He glared at the squirming little girl in his hands and his hatred for her grew by the thousand-fold.

"Fine," he snarled. "I may not get my Unseelie Age, but I can still continue to keep my Underground safe from the likes of you. Ore voi!"

"Give me the child!"

Reinhardt turned sharply around, still clutching Rin in one hand. Toby had just burst into the room, his sword pointed directly at Reinhardt's chest.

"Well, if it isn't the little fool, come to spoil the moment," growled Reinhardt.

"Toby! Toby, Toby, Toby!" cried Rin.

Toby took a step forward, his face set and determined. "Through dangers untold," he chanted. "And hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong and yours, and my kingdom is as great! You have no power over me!"

Reinhardt stared at him, turning his head to the side. "What was that bunch of cheesy crap?" he asked incredulously.

"I read it in an old book of my sister's, okay?" snapped Toby. "It kinda fit so I thought I'd use it!"

"Well, whatever," said Reinhardt. "Get out of here, pin brain. I've got business with this changeling."

"No!" said Toby, angrily. "Give her to me now!"

Reinhardt gave Toby a bit of a once-over before smirking nastily. "You don't seriously think you can handle me, do ya boy?" he asked. "For one thing, I'm a good three millennia older than you. For another thing, I'm infinitely more powerful than you. Finally, I'm Unseelie and that's not something that you want to mess with."

"Just try me," said Toby. "I'm not gonna let you hurt Rin, do you hear me!?"

"Hm, that almost sounds familiar," said Reinhardt, staring off for a moment. "Ah, it reminds me of the first murder I ever committed. The murder that drove me Unseelie. My father. Yes, after my pure Fae mother died during my birth, my dear old daddy chose to find solace with a putrid, disgusting, filthy mortal woman. Can you believe that _she_ had his heart and not my mother? My parent's weren't married, you see. My creation was just two healthy adults having fun. But my mortal stepmother got everything that should have been my mothers. Her place in my father's household belonged to my mother and nobody else. Finally, I'd had enough of her. I hacked her up into teeny, tiny pieces. My old man came in and saw what I was doing and tried to stop me. So, I murdered him too. It was so easy to kill him. Easier then I'd ever imagined. It was his fault he . . . OUCHIES!"

During Reinhardt's grim monologue, Toby snuck up to him and, taking a risk, he brought his sword down on the hand that he was holding Rin in. The sword cut into Reinhardt's hand and he dropped Rin to the ground once again.

"If you're gonna do something, do something!" snapped Toby, lifting his sword so that it was right underneath Reinhardt's beard. "Don't just stand there monologueing!"

"You STUPID . . ." roared Reinhardt. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the King of Swords. A sword appeared in his hand, much larger and more impressive that Toby's, and he swung it violently at Toby.

Toby had to raise his sword to block Reinhardt's attack. He dove away for the door, hoping to grab Rin and get out. Reinhardt blocked his movements with another attack, one that tore right through his shirt, but avoided his skin.

_This is a lot harder than my video games,_ Toby thought wildly, running to avoid Reinhardt's attacks. He made for the door, but Reinhardt raised a hand to it. Toby heard a loud click and knew that he'd locked the door.

"Too bad, little fool," said Reinhardt, brandishing his great sword. "There's no defeating me."

"I'm not letting you hurt Rin," said Toby, holding out his short sword defensively. "You're not going to hurt anyone ever again."

"What makes you care so much about that pitiful, changeling brat?" said Reinhardt. "She dragged you into this. She got you involved in a world where you don't belong. And, very soon, she's the reason that you're going to die here today."

"I'm not gonna die," snapped Toby. "And I'm not letting you hurt Rin. She's my friend!"

"How can you be friends with an infant?" sneered Reinhardt. "All they do is whine and cry and have bowel movements."

"You can't know what it means to have a friend," said Toby, boldly. "Seeing as I'm sure you've never had one in your entire life."

Reinhardt made a loud sound like a balloon having the air let out. "Kiddo, that whole 'you've never had a friend' speech is bull-honky to me! It's weakling crap like that that makes people like me a lot better than losers like you. Observe." And without warning, he swung the King of Swords once. Toby panicked and closed his eyes. There was a clang of metal on metal and when Toby opened his eyes again, he saw that the blade of his small sword had been cut cleanly in half.

"Oh . . ." he said, weakly.

"My point is proven," said Reinhardt, lifting his sword again.

Toby watched in horror as the blade went higher and higher. He had to move. He had to act. If he didn't, he'd get cut in half right here and right now. Gripping his broken sword, he dove for Reinhardt. Reinhardt hadn't expected him, but still managed to step out of the way of Toby's attack. Almost.

RIP!

The broken tip of Toby's sword cut right into Reinhardt's sparkly orange jacket. "No!" cried Reinhardt. "You INGRATE! This is my best jacket, you . . . MY CARDS!!"

Reinhardt's tarot cards came spilling out of the torn jacket pocket. They spilled over the floor, sliding on the hard stone. Reinhardt bent down at once and started trying to pick them all up. "You have no idea what these cards mean to me!" he cried, scrambling to reassemble his deck. "These are my magic! I need my cards!"

But Toby was distracted. One of the cards had slid right in front of him. He glanced down at it. The Tower. He looked up, noticed that Reinhardt was still trying desperately to gather his tarot cards, and took hold of the card.

Reinhardt twisted around in time to see Toby raise the card into the air. "NO YOU FOOL!" he screamed. "NOT THAT ONE! RIGHT SIDE UP! KEEP IT RIGHT SIDE UP!"

Toby barely had time to notice that he was holding the card upside down when . . .

CRASH!

A loud horrible sound creaked through the room. Toby suddenly felt unsteady. He couldn't hold himself upright. The floor was tilting. The room was collapsing! He heard his own voice cry out in shock and heard Reinhardt's long wail of "NOOOOOO!"

The tower crumbled all around them. Toby reached out wildly, scrambling to grab onto anything to keep himself from falling. At long last, his fingers closed on something solid. He hard the rumble of stones falling from a great height. Unwisely, Toby looked down and felt his stomach fall to the level of his toes.

He was hanging onto what used to be the floor, dangling like a worm on a hook, and underneath his feet was nothing but a long, long way to the city below. Toby felt himself starting to freak out. He needed to get up. He needed to get out of here! He needed to be on safe ground again. Toby tried to pull himself up, but couldn't. Why hadn't he tried doing pull ups in gym class like the rest of the kids!? It figures that only in a life-threatening situation like this did he need upper body strength. Toby tried again but . . .

"Ah!"

Toby twisted around. Reinhardt was hanging on for dear life, just like he was. The Unseelie had reached out and took hold of Toby's cloak in an attempt to pull himself up.

"Let . . . go . . . of . . . me!" Toby cried, still struggling to keep hold, but he felt his fingers slid as Reinhardt continued to pull him down.

"Oh . . . no you . . . don't!" growled Reinhardt. "I'm not dying here! You're dying here! I'm getting back up there! _And you're gonna help me!_"

"Let me go!" Toby screamed desperately, terrified that his fingers were gonna give way at any second, the cloak cutting into his throat.

Rip . . . rip . . . rip . . .

A sound, very similar to the one that Reinhardt's jacket had made when Toby sliced through it, caught both their attention. The cloak that Jareth had given Toby, that Reinhardt was now trying to use as a rope, was starting to tear under Reinhardt's grip. Reinhardt tugged even harder at it and the fastening gave way completely. The cloak was ripped free from Toby's neck and Reinhardt was now holding on with only one hand.

"Urg!" Reinhardt made a small noise of fear as he looked down. He dropped the cloak and tried desperately to get his grip back, but . . .

It happened in an instant. The tips of Reinhardt's fingers slipped from off the ground to which he was holding. In that instant, he was no longer beside Toby. He was gone. All that was left was the long, shrill, piercing scream that rang through Toby as no other sound could. Then there was another sound, something that sounded like a rip and a squish. Toby didn't dare look what happened.

Toby felt his insides squirm with terror as his hands went numb. " . . .elp . . . HELP!" he screamed. Would anyone hear him? Would anyone save him? Was he going to fall like Reinhardt? Was he going to die too?

"Toby?"

Toby looked up as he felt two small hands wrap around his wrist. Rin was looking down at him with great concern on her face. Toby could feel her efforts to try and pull him up, but her strength wasn't nearly enough to save him. Scared that he'd take the little girl with him when he fell, he tried to figure out how to make her let go without losing his already weakening grip.

"Let . . . go Rin," he struggled. "I'm . . . gonna fall."

"Toby no fall!" Rin insisted. "Toby no fall!"

"It's . . . gonna be . . . okay, Rin," said Toby, now sweating with the effort to keep holding on. "Don't . . . worry. You're home. The bad guy's gone. Go find your mom and dad. That's what this has all . . . been about. I got you back home, Rin. Now, go see your mom and dad. They must . . . be worried sick. Tell your dad . . . that I said thanks."

Toby lowered his head and closed his eyes, ready to give up and finally let go. At that instant a larger, stronger hand took hold of his other wrist and pulled him mightily upward. Toby's eyes snapped up as he was pulled up further and further. He lifted his gaze to see Jareth had taken hold of his arm and was pulling him back into the room, out of danger.

"Your welcome," he said, cheekily.

Toby collapsed onto the ground, blessing it for being there. He never felt so thankful to be alive. He lay flat on his stomach, eternally gratefully for beautiful, wonderful, blessed, solid ground. Jareth looked down at Toby's reaction, smirking, when he noticed something on the ground. He bent over and picked up a tarot card.

"The Tower," he said solemnly. "When reversed it foretells of a fall from glory." He looked away from the card and stared down over the edge of the ruined tower. Toby noticed what he was doing and looked over too, and immediately wished he hadn't.

Reinhardt was lying a several feet below them, his body stretched out awkwardly. His body had been impaled on the point of another tower just beneath this one. His limbs dangled there, his chest skewered, and his tarot card spilled all around him.

Toby shuddered as he looked down at Reinhardt's body. "So, I guess that's that," he said, awkwardly.

"Indeed," said Jareth, heavily. "That's that."

Toby looked away from the grim scene. It was only then that he noticed that he and Jareth weren't the only ones there. A woman was kneeling on the floor, hugging Rin tightly.

"Mama," Rin whimpered, clutching tightly to the woman as if her life depended on it.

"Oh, Rin, I'm so sorry I left you alone. I didn't mean to, I swear . . ."

"Mama. Mama, Toby, Mama."

The woman looked up and saw Toby watching them. At once Toby knew just who he was looking at just as she realized who she was seeing too. Comprehension dawned on them both at once, so powerfully it was enough to nearly knock them over.

"Toby?" Sarah asked, breathlessly.

Toby seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. "S-Sarah?" he asked, timidly.

After a moment, sense came to them. Sarah placed her daughter down, stood, and walked over to Toby and helped him up.

And for the first time in eight years, Toby Williams hugged his big sister.

**Ying-Fa: Thank you for reading. Please review. I'll be back soon!**


	21. Our Farewell

**Ying-Fa: How's this for a Groundhog's day present? Okay, here's the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy.**

Jareth sat in his usual, lazy position in his throne with Rin sitting peacefully on his lap. One arm was wrapped securely around his daughter and the other had his fist pressed against his mouth. At first glance, one would think it was a thoughtful gesture but all the goblins, Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus all knew that it was to suppress his expression of complete rage as he stared down at the offending goblin, so as not to frighten Rin.

"So," he snarled. "Just what exactly do you have to say for yourself, Gurglespit?"

"I-i-i-it's G-G-Gagglew-w-wart," stammered Gagglewart.

"Sir Didymus," snapped Jareth. "The offenses?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" growled Sir Didymus, fervently. "This goblin, named Gagglewart, has been found guilty of the crimes of treason, crimes against all members of the royal family, His Majesty King Jareth, Her Majesty Queen Sarah, and Her Majesty Princess Labyrinth, and of conspiracy that resulted in the death of an honored friend of the family."

"Sh-shouldn't I get a trail by a jury of peers or something?" asked Gagglewart, carefully avoiding Jareth's eye.

"Certainly," said Jareth, turning to the other goblins that were all watching with interest. "How do you find?"

All the goblins spoke up at once.

"Guilty!"

"So guilty!"

"Way guilty!"

"Guilty as charged!"

"Couldn't be any guiltier!"

"If he's not guilty, I'm Ziggy Stardust!"

"Who is that guy anyway?"

"Bad!" said Rin, leaning forward in her father's lap and pointing at Gagglewart.

"I couldn't agree with you any more, my sweet," said Jareth, dropping his look of fury for a moment to smile at his daughter, and then he went back to leering at the goblin. "Your treachery resulted in Lady Ena's death, as well as several attempts at my life and the lives of my wife and daughter."

"I-I didn't mean for Miss Ena to get hurt," said Gagglewart. "I thought theys was just gonna make her work for them. How was I supposed to know His Gra-I mean, Kyrie was gonna do her in?"

"Oh, is that your only explanation?" said Jareth harshly. "You didn't mean for Ena to die but you didn't care about my life or the lives of my family?"

"R-R-Reinhardt said he was gonna make me Goblin King once you . . . er . . . once you . . . um," Gagglewart didn't dare go any further.

"Did he now?" said Jareth, leering down at Gagglewart. "Is that what you wanted? To become royalty? Hm, I see. Well, in that case, I shall grant you what you desire Gagglewart."

"R-really?!" said Gagglewart, hardly daring to believe.

"Oh yes," said Jareth, his face twisting into a monstrous grin. "Because it is what you want so much, I'm going to turn you into a prince."

"Seriously! Why, Your Majesty! I don't know what to say!"

"Uh oh," grumbled Hoggle, knowing what was coming.

"Indeed," said Jareth, leaning forward somewhat. "We've needed a goblin of your wits to do this particular job. Therefore, I dub thee Gagglewart . . . the Prince of the Land of Stench."

"Oh honestly, Your Majesty, I . . . WHAT!?"

In the next instant, Jareth snapped his fingers. The floor opened up underneath Gagglewart's feet and the goblin fell down into the chute, his destination was the Bog of Eternal Stench. The disgusting bog from which came the most foul smelling substance that, if it gets on you, causes you stink of the bog for the rest of your life.

The goblins all cheered and laughed to see the traitor put right. Rin giggled and clapped her hands and Jareth beamed at her. "That settles that, I believe," said Jareth.

"So that's it," said Hoggle. "Where's Sarah? Didn't she want to see that traitor punished too?"

"I'm sure she would have liked to see it," said Jareth, still gazing fondly at his daughter. "But at the moment, she's indisposed. She has quite a lot of catching up to do with our guest of honor."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Toby couldn't remember the last time he had so many questions to ask and so much talking he wanted to do. Sarah seemed just as eager to talk to him as he was eager to talk to her. They sat together in a warm parlor and discussed all sorts of things. Toby talked all about the wild rumors that people had created to try and explain what had happened to Sarah when she disappeared. Sarah told him everything about coming to the Underground for the first time, then the second time, and then deciding to return for a third time and staying there permanently.

"You wished me away?" Toby asked, more amused than hurt at the idea that his sister would wish for such a thing.

Sarah shrugged. "I was so absorbed in the labyrinth, I kinda fooled myself into thinking it was real."

"But it turned out to be real," said Toby.

"That's true," said Sarah, laughing. "But, please understand, I didn't really mean to. I was just complaining in my own, stupid, teenage way."

"I'm not all that bothered, actually," said Toby. "I've babysat kids before and I've been pretty close to wanting a band of fantasy creatures to come and rid me of them."

Sarah laughed again. "Well, I had no idea that my wish would actually come true. When it did, I was so scared. I wanted to correct my mistake, to take back what I'd done. So, Jareth let me run the labyrinth in order to win you back."

"I still have trouble seeing how you guys actually ended up married," said Toby, looking at her with bewilderment.

"These things just kinda happen," said Sarah, gazing fondly out the window. "I was always interested in him, the handsome villain in my story, and after I met him for real that was kind of the end of it. I tried to tell myself that I didn't like him for a really long time, but that all came crashing down when I came back the second time. By then I already knew I was just kidding myself when I said I didn't like him. I just kind of . . . fell in love with him without meaning to."

"I don't get it," said Toby, perplexed.

"I wouldn't expect you to," said Sarah, lightly.

Toby chuckled. "Funnily enough, one of those rumors that started up after you left was that you'd eloped with a secret boyfriend. To think that one was the one that was actually the truth."

"Who came up with that one?" Sarah asked, with a slight laugh.

"A girl named Bethany Templeton," said Toby.

Sarah thought for a moment. "Does she have a relative my age?" she asked.

"She said her aunt went to school with you," Toby replied.

"Ah, it must have been Shawna," said Sarah, reminiscently. "That girl was always so extremely nosy. Figures she'd learn the truth."

"But Sarah, why didn't you tell us?" Toby asked. "Dad was really beat up when you vanished and I missed you a lot. I thought you'd abandoned us. Didn't you like us anymore?"

Sarah looked dead into his eyes, her expression serious. "Of course I do," she said. "I love you and I love Daddy and my mom and all of you. The problem was that I love Jareth in a way that differs from the way I love you guys. And it wasn't just Jareth. I love the labyrinth and the Underground and all the creatures and friends I'd made here. I left because I couldn't bear to leave them again. Besides, if I'd told you guys that I was going off to another world to marry a Goblin King and live in the middle of a labyrinth, Irene would have had me committed."

Toby laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right about that. But, still, Mom missed you too. We all did."

Sarah moved closer to him. "Toby, if there was some way I could have kept in touch with you while I lived here, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I'm so sorry for all the misery I put you through. You were so young. I thought if I left while you were still a kid then you wouldn't even remember me for much longer anyway. Daddy had Irene and Mom had the theater and Jeremy so I figured that it wouldn't be too long before the Aboveground went on without me."

"Yeah," said Toby, heavily. "Still, I kinda prefer it this way. If you're happy, then I guess that's okay. You are happy, aren't you?"

"Very," said Sarah, contently. "I could do without this little episode with that Unseelie SOB and his cronies but, other than that, I'm glad to say that I'm quite happy here. Jareth's beyond good to me and I know he loves me very much. He never fails to tell me that, anyway. And Rin is my life. She's both our lives."

"Rin really is a good kid," said Toby. "I'm glad I found her. I'm glad she brought me here."

"But now that you are here," said Sarah, casting him a sideways glace. "What are you going to do now?"

Toby looked over at her and he knew what she was talking about. He looked down at his feet and thought deeply. He'd easily just had the most amazing adventure of his entire life. He'd never experience anything like it again, he was sure. Toby kept thinking back and forth over his options. Here . . . there . . . here . . . there . . .

"You could . . . stay if you wanted to," said Sarah, carefully. "Nobody's forcing you to do anything. It's up to you, just like it was up to me."

Toby continued to think. Stay here? Forever? That was certainly something to think about. It would be wonderful to live here with his sister and all the friends he'd made . . . but still . . .

_"I won't disappear."_

"I . . . can't."

Toby kept his eyes to his feet, not daring to look into his sister's eyes. "It's not that . . . I don't want to. Part of me really, really wants to. But I can't. I can't do that to Mom and Dad. I've still got a life to live there. I can't just leave now."

**Is this our farewell?**

Toby raised his eyes and saw that Sarah's expression was nothing but understanding. "I see," she said. "I know what you mean. It took me awhile before I was ready to leave and I know why you say you can't leave."

"It's just," Toby felt an odd anxiety. He felt like he should be talking more, explaining more. "I can't leave Mom and Dad. I mean, I've barely just started high school and . . ."

"Toby I get it," Sarah insisted. "You have a lot going for you, I know. It's okay. Seriously. You're not hurting my feelings or anything. Besides, just because I'm here and you're there, doesn't mean we'll never see each other again. It never does."

**Sweet darling,**

**You worry too much, my child**

**See the sadness in your eyes**

**You are not alone in life**

**Although you might think that you are**

"What do you mean?" Toby asked.

"She means that things are not always what they seem in this place," came a voice from the doorway. Jareth came in, Rin in his arms. "You thought you'd never meet her again once before, didn't you? This is just like that."

Toby looked at the three of them and couldn't help but smile at them. They were his family away from home. In this short amount of time, he'd grown to care about each one of them. He'd see them again, he knew it.

But now it was time to say goodbye.

"Toby!" called Rin, reaching out for him. Jareth set her down and she waddled over to him, raising her hands so that he could pick her up. He did so. Toby smiled at his first friend from the Underground. He was going to miss her, he knew it.

"Listen Rin," he said. "You take care of yourself. Be a good girl, you hear me?"

Rin heard the finality in Toby's voice and could tell at once what it meant. "Toby?" she asked, tugging on his sleeve.

"Toby's gotta go," Toby explained. He hugged her and felt her small arms wrap around him as best they could. "Thanks for bringing me here, Rin. Thanks for everything."

**In my hands**

**A legacy of memories**

**I can hear you say my name**

**I can almost see your smile**

**Feel the warmth of your embrace**

Toby gave Rin back to her father then turned back to Sarah. The two siblings hugged for a long moment. Toby could hardly bring himself to break apart from her. He didn't know when he'd get a second chance.

"You are always welcome here," Sarah murmured into his ear. "Always. Don't forget that. Ever."

"I won't," he said, his voice breaking slightly. Gathering himself, he pulled away from her and turned back to Jareth. "Okay," he said. "Send me home."

Jareth smiled and nodded. He turned and pointed to a door that certainly hadn't been there a second ago. "It's through there," he said.

Toby took a deep breath, and then headed for the door. He reached out and grasped the handle, turned for one last look at the three of them, smiled, then opened the door and stepped through.

As the door closed behind him, Sarah could hardly keep herself from crying. Jareth went over and put his free arm around her as she buried her face in her hands and Rin began to cry herself.

**But there is nothing but silence now**

**Around the one I loved.**

**Is this our farewell?**

"It's alright," said Jareth, comfortingly to both of them. "It's not the end. It never is. You know that."

Sarah gathered herself slightly, then took Rin from him and patted her back soothingly. "It's only when I finally saw him again," she said, her voice musky. "Did I realize just how much I've missed him."

"I know," said Jareth. "But he knows the way back now. And you know the rules. Even if you get to the center of the labyrinth, you'll never get out again."

"That's true," said Sarah, smiling at him. "I shouldn't get so worked up. We'll see Toby again."

"Yes, we will," said Jareth. "You know, his name. Toby. Is that short for something?"

"I don't really know," said Sarah, shrugging. "I guess if it was short for something, I guess it would be Tobias. I mean, we've never called him that. I think it even says Toby on his birth certificate."

"Tobias," repeated Jareth, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Tobias. Hm, I think I rather like that name." He stepped closer to Sarah and wrapped one arm around her, pulling her to him. His other hand he placed flat on her stomach. "And it should be a perfectly suitable name . . . for our son."

Sarah smiled up at him, then stood up on her toes to press her lips to his.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Toby stepped through the door and immediately recognized where he was. He was in his house. He'd just stepped in through the front door and was staring out at his mother's neat, clean living room. It was as if Reinhardt had never been there. A sudden chiming of the clock on the opposite wall told him that it was now midnight.

Toby quickly stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He felt so strange to be back here as if there had been no incident. As if Jareth, Rin, his sister, the goblins and everyone else had never existed. But they had. He knew what had happened was real. Even if nobody else knew. Even if there was nothing left.

**Never thought this day would come so soon**

**We had no time to say goodbye**

**How can the world just carry on?**

**I feel so lost when you're**

**Not by my side**

**There is nothing but silence now**

**Around the one I loved**

**Is this our farewell?**

Toby climbed the stairs and looked all over his house. Everything was just as neat and spotless as it had been when his mother and father had left that evening. There was an odd mixture of feelings going on within him. He felt tired but full of restless energy. He'd just had the most amazing adventure. He'd just saved the only changeling left in the Underground.

_But there had been so many sacrifices,_ he thought. _Ena . . . Leon . . . and Jareth never got to know his brother. So many things happened. But so much more was prevented. I was able to prevent it. And if anyone dares to threaten my family again . . . I'm gonna make them sorry._

Toby entered his room, which also looked foreign to him, and collapsed onto his bed. Despite the sorrows and trials, he would never think about his time in the Underground with anything other than wonder.

Suddenly, he heard the front door swing open from downstairs.

"We're home!" Robert called. "Toby! Are you home?"

"Yeah!" Toby called back, sitting up so as to make his voice louder. "Yes, I'm home."

A few moments later, Robert came in and saw Toby laying back down on his bed. "Hey, champ," he said. "Did you have a good night all by yourself?"

**So sorry your world is tumbling down**

**I will watch you through these nights**

"It was the best."

As Robert left the room, Toby slid under his covers, not bothering to put pajamas on. He wanted to get so sleep quickly so that he could dream of his adventure and of the day when he may just return.

**Rest your head and go to sleep**

**Because my child,**

**This is not our farewell.**

Outside Toby's window, sitting on a tree branch, sat a beautiful white barn owl. Beside it was a smaller, baby owl that was staring inward at the young boy falling asleep in the room before them. The larger owl nudged the smaller one gently and then the two took off into the night. The larger watching the smaller carefully as it taught her how to fly.

**This is not our farewell.**

**Lyrics from "Our Farewell" by Within Temptation.**

* * *

**Ying-Fa: Omigosh, I'm DONE! Oh, wow! I've finally completed the sequel to ****Please Come Home.**** Sorry, people, but there's no number three. This story is, officially, closed.**

**I feel so grateful! Thank you:**

**Ying and Yang twins, Stacy Vorosco, magialuna, notwritten, Strong on the Surface, lonely 27, luvnote4u, RiannonoftheMoon, Kore-of-Myth, Kaitou Jareth, bra4goten, Gertrude-Eveline, Margravine Green, sessybaby666, Maantje, asdfasdfasdfasdf, futrCSI1490, megumisakura, Coffee Kris, sasuke-luvs-naruto, Aysuh, AmericanWoman and everyone who put this story or me on their Favorite/Alert lists. This has been Ying-Fa-dono. Good night and good luck.**


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